EU threatens US with $12 billion tariffs

Brussels: The EU on Wednesday unveiled a wide-ranging list of US-made goods, from beeswax to car parts, subject to tariffs in retaliation for subsidies to Boeing as a transatlantic trade war risked re-erupting.

"European companies must be able to compete on fair and equal terms... We must continue to defend a level-playing field for our industry," said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom in a statement.

Europe's 12 billion claim against Boeing comes on the trail of a similar demand by the US for 11 billion in compensation for EU subsidies towards Airbus. The ultimate amount to be won by both sides will be determined by the World Trade Organization, with the finals sums likely to be far below the tit-for-tat demands by the EU and US. The Boeing-Airbus trade row has rumbled on for 14 years with the EU and US mutually accusing each other at the WTO of doling out illegal state aid since the 1990s to their respective aeronautical champions. Malmstrom insisted that the EU wanted to close the tit-for-tat battle

amicably.