May 6, Caixin United讯 (Editor Zhao Hao) The Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, recently stated that if the ongoing negotiations between Europe and the U.S. fail to cancel the tariffs recently imposed by the U.S. on the aerospace industry, Europe should take reciprocal measures against American aircraft manufacturers.

Faury told the media in Paris, "Europe is negotiating. If these negotiations do not yield positive results, I hope - which is also our expectation - that reciprocal tariffs should be imposed on American aircraft to push the negotiations to a higher level and return to the framework of the 1979 agreement."

Faury mentioned that the agreement refers to the duty-free system stipulated in the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft. Under this agreement, the aviation industry enjoys an annual trade surplus of $75 billion. Trump's tariff policy ended the decades-long duty-free status of this industry.

Faury said that returning to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft "would be good for both the American and European aviation industries."

Although Faury did not explicitly mention Boeing in his remarks, there is no doubt that Boeing is the most important exporter in this field in the U.S. If the EU ultimately decides to retaliate against American aircraft manufacturers, Boeing will face significant impacts.

Currently, the U.S. has imposed a 10% tariff on imports from dozens of countries in the EU to promote a more favorable trade agreement. As a result, Airbus has been under pressure, while European countries have yet to retaliate, temporarily sparing its competitor Boeing from potential EU tariffs.

On the same day, it was reported that sources familiar with the matter revealed that according to the EU's plan, if the ongoing trade negotiations fail to yield satisfactory results, the EU will impose tariffs on approximately €100 billion (approximately $113 billion) worth of American goods.

At present, the aviation industry is striving to adapt to the new tariff policies in the U.S., which have affected the entire aerospace supply chain, making once duty-free transactions more complicated and expensive. In the U.S., companies like General Electric are actively lobbying the government to revoke the tariffs.

"Airbus is also part of the U.S. civil aviation industry, and our products imported into the U.S. are also being punished," Faury said, adding that these tariffs bring uncertainty to the entire industry and suppress investment.

Faury mentioned that the regulatory system in Europe also needs to be simplified to promote innovation, investment, and competitiveness. Amid signs of wavering long-term alliances between the U.S. and Europe, EU member states have committed to increasing defense spending. Faury said that European countries should purchase more locally produced weapons.

Faury also called for promoting more pan-European cooperation projects, such as the satellite business merger discussions between Airbus, Italy's Leonardo SpA, and France's Thales SA.

Faury said that sovereignty issues have not hindered the negotiations but have introduced some "complexities." "We will reach an agreement," he said, but he did not provide a specific timeline.

(Caixin United, Zhao Hao)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501366139964981760/

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