The EU said in a statement that they are keen to work with the US to establish a common ground for the respective aviation industries. 

Last month, the United States was granted an approval to slap tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European Union imports. This marks the 15th year legal battle between Airbus and Boeing. 

The World Trade Organisation’s first compliance panel had found that the EU was not following the rules. Last year, Brussels had requested for a second panel to review into the matter, stating that it had modified its faulty behaviour. 

The panel found that the EU did not show that it had achieved the withdrawal of the French, German, Spanish and UK A380 LA/MSF subsidies, or the German and UK A350XWB LA/MSF subsidies, under  Article 7.8 of the SCM Agreement. 

According to media reports, the panel decision said, “The European Union and certain member states have not implemented the recommendations and rulings of the dispute settlement body to bring its measures in line with its obligations.”

Based on separate EU-led cases, the World Trade Organisation said that various divisions of the US government have given illegal subsidies to Boeing. However, the World Trade Organisation is expected to decide the number of retaliation rights the EU can impose next year. 

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Previously, China’s stimulus package was centered on infrastructure spend, but this year the focus is on new corporate tax cuts for non-state sectors. “The shape of the stimulus package this time is very different from earlier rounds,” Hong Kong-based HSBC economists Qu Hongbin and Julia Wang said in the HSBC report. “We believe that it will not only work, but will also trigger a self-sustained recovery in the coming quarters.”

Chinese politician Premier Li Keqiang said that the country has set its 2019 economic target at 6.0 percent to 6.5 percent which is lower than last year’s expectations. The country’s target for consumer price inflation is at three percent and its budget deficit goal is at 2.8 percent.

“What China can really do this year is to prevent deflation while stopping a recession and a hard landing in the economy,” Chen Xingdong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas, explained.

That said, there views are mixed as some economists remain skeptical of China’s data. “Whenever there’s a problem, Chinese data are meaningless,” said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “The problem in this case is a clear economic slowdown over the last nine months. Nothing China publishes in this setting can be trusted.”

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In the meanwhile, India has raised taxes on 29 US-imported products including agricultural goods, iron and steel products, again in retaliation to US tariffs. The new duties are expected to come into effect from August 4, 2018 and expected to affect US almonds, walnuts and chickpeas, among others. India is a top buyer of US almond exports and so the move is expected to hurt American farmers.

The Trump administration announced in March that it would introduce tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium imported into the US. After being deferred, the duties on steel and aluminium went ahead on 1 June and affect the EU, Canada, Mexico and other close US allies, including India.

The EU has introduced a 50% duty on goods such as footwear, some types of clothing and washing machines.
The US tariffs are a strong message from President Trump on trade exploitation and unfair business practices.

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