Boeing

CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) issued the following statement about the actions that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced today concerning the World Trade Organization's ruling last March on subsidies to the U.S. aerospace sector.

"Boeing fully supports the actions the U.S. government announced today that it has taken to address the relatively small amounts of subsidy that the World Trade Organization identified as inconsistent with its rules. The United States has now complied with the WTO ruling.

"Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Airbus and its government sponsors, which have thumbed their noses at the WTO. Despite a crystal clear ruling against launch aid subsidies, European governments have continued the practice by providing Airbus with billions of taxpayer euros and pounds for its next new product, the A350. What is more, the European governments have yet to remove the very substantial subsidies, including those propping up the A380, which the WTO's ruling in June of last year requires them to do.

"The illegal subsidies to Airbus, most importantly the pernicious, market distorting practice of launch aid, must stop. The U.S. government remains committed to ending these subsidies, and Boeing fully supports the actions the U.S. government has taken to ending them."

Contact:        

Tim Neale, 703-340-7436
Charlie Miller, +44 7802 399622

SOURCE Boeing