On the imposition of EU punitive tariffs on US products because of illegal US subsidies for Boeing aircrafts, Ulrich Ackermann, Head of the Foreign Trade Department of VDMA, says:

"Even though the EU's step is in line with WTO rules and it is, therefore, understandable to impose punitive tariffs for Boeing subsidies as of today, we would have liked to see a negotiated solution. After all, the transatlantic dispute over Airbus and Boeing subsidies is also a burden on companies in the mechanical engineering sector, which have nothing to do with the original subsidies paid to the two aircraft manufacturers

European manufacturers of special excavators and tools as well as induction furnaces are affected by the Airbus punitive tariffs of the USA, the new EU punitive tariffs due to Boeing subsidies also affect special excavators and tractors from American manufacturers.

We, therefore, once again call on the EU and the US Government to engage in a constructive dialogue. At the latest the new US Administration under President Biden is called upon to do so. It is now important to find a negotiated solution as quickly as possible that will finally end the dispute over subsidies for the two aircraft manufacturers and thus also abolish the punitive tariffs on mechanical engineering products in bilateral trade."