EU files tactical appeal in Boeing trade spat

The European Union filed an appeal against an aircraft subsidies ruling on Friday just hours after calling it a victory, a tactical move in a transatlantic game of global trade chess. Europe's appeal came after the World Trade Organisation ruled Boeing had received at least $5.3 billion in subsidies that were against the WTO rules, hailed as a "crystal-clear" win by the European Commission.
Washington has also claimed victory in the verdict by comparing it to recent WTO condemnation of what the US says are even larger European sudsidies to Airbus. Together the cases represent the world's largest trade dispute. The case against EU aid to Airbus - lodged by the United States - is several months ahead of the case against US aid to Boeing, raising European fears that Airbus could eventually have to stop receiving disputed aid months before its US rival. The EU's appeal was made quickly in order to close that gap. Both sides have 30 days to appeal, but once one side appeals, the other must decide whether to respond in 5 days.
"The EU's victory in this case against Boeing remains very clear for all to see. However, the EU has chosen to quickly appeal technical elements of the ruling for legal strategic reasons - including to reduce what has been a growing time gap between the two parallel aircraft disputes," said John Clancy, EU trade spokesman.
A spokesman for the US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said the EU move "contradicts the EU's claim that the report represents a win for the EU in this dispute". To see what happens next over the $2 trillion plane market and 100,000 affected jobs, all eyes are on a wooden letterbox.
A modern trade war is waged with a combination of electronic communications, light footwork and almost balletic stagecraft on the shores of Lake Geneva, home to the 153-nation WTO. To start the clock on possible sanctions or appeals, delegates step across a path from the WTO's marbled headquarters lined with murals and slip a note into an A4-sized pigeon-hole.
Like most diplomatic dance steps in a city hosting over 20 international organisations, even the most apparently trivial move, like the timing of Friday's EU appeal, is quickly scanned for anything political. By narrowing the nine-month gap between the two competing cases, the EU may reduce the vulnerable period during which the nerve of member states could wobble once the WTO gives its verdict on appeals in the case against Airbus next month.
In the case the EU is appealing on Friday, the United States could now respond with its own early appeal, or try to slow proceedings down by calling for a WTO hearing to discuss technical matters such as how to handle confidential data.