Jet Wars: Episode XXV — The Senate Debate
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, May 31, 2005
I meant to get this up yesterday, but I got busy getting the paper out. We’re short-handed again this week.
Here are key quotes from statements issued by various members of Washington’s Congressional delegation, after U.S. trade rep Rob Portman said he was pulling the plug on direct talks with the EU over eliminating government aid to the aerospace industry.
First, Sen. Maria Cantwell (a Democrat):
“By stalling recent negotiations to end launch aid, the European Union has shown that they are unwilling to end unfair subsidies anytime soon. … I believe this issue is best resolved at the negotiating table, but the EU is leaving the U.S. with little choice but to take more aggressive action.”
Sen. Patty Murray (also a Democrat), issued a long blistering statement that included:
“The EU’s participation in these talks was nothing more than a charade. The Europeans mocked our good faith efforts toward a negotiated solution by moving ahead with new launch aid to the A350. That was the last straw. Their illegal, unfair actions must stop. We cannot not sit idly by and watch Airbus break the rules – again – to subsidize the A350 without any response.”
Murray also took issue with EU negotiators, who say they’ll back off from giving launch aid to Airbus if Boeing is cut off from government assistance like Washington’s $3.2 billion aerospace industry tax cut:
“There’s a big difference between the tax incentives that Washington state offered to Boeing and the billions and billions in launch aid European governments have given and continue to pledge to Airbus. Boeing has never received a cash advance to build a new plane. Airbus seems to never build a new plane without a cash advance.”
Rep. Jay Inslee (yet another Democrat) got in a couple choice licks of his own:
“European governments are injecting subsidies into Airbus like a professional baseball player pumping steroids to gain an unfair advantage … The World Trade Organization needs to close down this racket so Europeans can no longer gamble with airplane lines like they are at a Monte Carlo casino, at the expense of American aerospace jobs.”
Hmm … has there been a steroid scandal in cricket? One wonders …
Rep. Rick Larsen (he’s a Democrat too, of course – c’mon, Washington’s a blue state) had a statement out on the topic last week, before the administration broke off talks with the EU. He said:
“Airbus has an incredibly unfair advantage over U.S. companies like Boeing,” he said. “In order for American workers to succeed in the aerospace industry … they must be allowed to compete on a fair and level playing field. When the playing field is neither fair nor level, good paying jobs in the U.S. are lost.”
And from the other side of the Atlantic, British Parliament Member Mark Tami – who, I believe, represents the district where Airbus has its wing-manufacturing plant – got in his own shots.
Key Quote: “The fact is that America panics every time a new Airbus is launched. The latest case concerns the Airbus A350, which will create thousands of jobs in Europe and compete with Boeing’s inferior Dreamliner.
“The Americans have already been outflanked by Airbus on several occasions and clearly fear competing on level ground. The 747 jumbo jet was born only with US Government money and the US aerospace industry has only survived this long because of military contracts.”
Here’s a link to the story, which appeared in the Welsh newspaper Evening Leader today:
http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/ihome2/detail.asp?storyid=37391&catid=%201&officeid=1
For those of you who don’t get The Herald delivered at your home or office (call 425-339-3200 to fix that), here’s my column on the topic from today’s edition:
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/06/01/100bus_corliss001.cfm
And, I’ll also note that today’s Wall Street Journal has a really good look at the current WTO aerospace case, putting it in context with other recent trade disputes and looking at just how the WTO works. It’s too long to post here, but if you’re a subscriber, or can go out and buy a copy, I’d recommend that.
Fun stuff, eh? Who says politics is boring?
