Washington (AFP)

Washington and Brussels signaled on Friday their willingness to make "a new start" in their trade relationship, announcing a break in the old conflict between Airbus and Boeing.

The two parties have agreed to suspend for four months the customs duties they impose on themselves in this dispute between the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and its American rival Boeing, announced the United States and the European Union. in a joint press release.

Since 2004, they have accused themselves of illegally subsidizing their aeronautics industry.

This announcement was made after a telephone exchange between Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

It was their first official meeting since the Democratic president arrived at the White House.

Joe Biden "underscored his support for the European Union and his commitment to repair and revitalize the USA-EU partnership," the White House said in a brief account of the call.

It was during this meeting that it was agreed to suspend the customs tariffs that they imposed on each other in the context of the Airbus / Boeing dispute.

"This will allow the EU and the US to ease the burden on their industries and workers as well as focus their efforts on resolving these long-standing disputes at the WTO," the joint statement said.

The objective is "to reach a negotiated, comprehensive and lasting solution to the aviation disputes", he added.

In addition, the "key elements" of a negotiated solution must include a framework on how to support the aviation sector in the future.

"President Biden and I have agreed to suspend all our tariffs imposed in the context of the Airbus-Boeing disputes, both on aeronautical and non-aeronautical products, for an initial period of four months," Ursula von der Leyen had announced before. even the publication of the joint press release.

During their meeting, the president of the European executive proposed "a new economic partnership" between the EU and the United States, "based on common values ​​and principles".

- Relief in France -

This announcement, the day after a similar agreement between London and Washington, was greeted with relief in Paris.

"Finally, we are coming out of the trade war between the United States and Europe, which only makes losers," said the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.

"I am delighted for our French winegrowers", he added, while the latter have borne the brunt of a conflict which did not concern them.

This is a "first step in the process of de-escalation" of trade, he said, the French Minister for Foreign Trade, Franck Riester.

"We will now work with the Commission and our European partners to reach an agreement within four months on new rules governing public support for the aviation sector, which is in line with our interests and without naivety," he added. .

- In conflict since 2004 -

"We welcome the decision to suspend tariffs to allow negotiations to take place," for its part reacted Airbus adding that it would continue to "defend a negotiated settlement (...) to avoid customs surcharges which only serve to losers ".

Boeing hopes for its part that this will give rise to "productive negotiations to finally resolve this conflict and bring a level playing field to this industry".

The European Union and the United States have been clashing since October 2004 before the World Trade Organization over public aid paid to the two groups, deemed illegal.

Under the Trump administration, Washington was authorized in October 2019 to impose taxes on nearly 7.5 billion dollars (6.8 billion euros) of European goods and services imported each year, up to 25% for wines and spirits, and 15% for Airbus aircraft.

In a mirror decision a year later, the WTO authorized Brussels to impose taxes on products imported from the United States.

The EU has since imposed tariffs on $ 4 billion in US exports.

The Biden administration announced on February 11 the provisional maintenance of additional taxes that entered into force on January 12, a few days before the end of the mandate of its predecessor Donald Trump.

But last week, future US Trade Representative Katherine Tai recognized the "need for the United States and the EU to unite to find an answer" to this conflict.

© 2021 AFP