The chief of Airbus on Tuesday said Europe should consider imposing tariffs on imports of Boeing aircraft if trade negotiations with the U.S. fail.
U.S. President Donald Trump has rolled out a "baseline" levy of 10% on goods from around the world, but he has suspended a higher tariff of 20% on European Union products while the two sides negotiate.
If negotiations "do not result in a positive outcome, I imagine that there will be – and that's what we wish – reciprocal tariffs on airplanes to force a higher level of negotiation," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Faury, who was speaking at a press event by French aerospace industry association Gifas, said any response should be similar to the strategy used in a previous spat during the first Trump administration.
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on the European aviation sector in 2019 after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the EU had illegally subsidized Airbus, and raised it to 15% in 2020.
The WTO later ruled that the United States also provided illegal aid to Boeing. The EU then imposed a 15% tariff on Boeing planes.
The tariffs were subsequently lifted under President Joe Biden in 2021.
The trade war is "a lose-lose" situation for the aerospace sector, but Boeing "would likely" be more affected, Faury said.
"This is why I am hopeful that ... things will be resolved," he added.
