BRUSSELS: Washington and Brussels have agreed to suspend tit-for-tat tariffs imposed during their dispute over subsidies for rival planemakers Airbus and Boeing, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Friday.

“I was glad to speak to President Biden this afternoon — the first of many exchanges and the start of a good personal partnership,” she said, in a European Commission statement.

“President Biden and I agreed to suspend all our tariffs imposed in the context of the Airbus-Boeing disputes, both on aircraft and non-aircraft products, for an initial period of four months.”

The 16-year-old trans-Atlantic conflict over government aid to the firms saw Brussels and Washington each impose punitive tariffs, including US duties on a record $7.5 billion in European goods.

Each side has won WTO rulings in the aviation dispute that authorised punitive tariffs on other products to compensate for allegedly irregular subsidies to the planemakers.