We knew this coming, but the World Trade Organization has now formally given the legal green light to the European Union's tariffs on American goods in response to illegal subsidies for Boeing.
For their part, the Trump regime responded to the news by half heartedly calling for a settlement, but what would a settlement look like? What's the Trump regime's idea of a settlement?
It probably won't surprise you, but their idea of a settlement for a dispute that dates back to the George W. Bush Administration is a joke.
The U.S. delegate said the Trump administration strongly favors a negotiated resolution to the 16-year-old dispute and is seeking a reasonable settlement that would provide a level playing field."
Earlier this month U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a proposal to the EU’s trade chief, Valdis Dombrovskis, seeking a pledge from Europe to end its aircraft subsidy regime and for Airbus to repay the subsidies it received from France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.
The Trump regime is asking the EU to end their subsidy program. And the EU says they already did, but the Trump regime says the same thing about Boeing.
Only one side is arguing in good faith here and it's not the Trump White House which is asking the EU to agree to terms they won't agree to themselves. Asking Boeing to repay subsidies it received in 2006 would be met with laughter, as it should be, and that's no less ridiculous than asking Airbus to repay subsidies from the same time period.
The only way to end this without escalating into a broader trade war with Europe is to take Trump's toys away by voting him out office. The EU is currently waiting to see if we'll do that before they impose the tariffs authorized by the World Trade Organization today.
I'm certain this will escalate to include tariffs on European cars and car parts if Trump is reelected and that would devastate the economy.