PARIS (Reuters) – The European Union and the new administration of US President-elect Joe Biden should suspend a trade dispute to allow time to find common ground, French Foreign Minister said in a statement Sunday.
“The problem that is poisoning everyone is the rise in prices and taxes on steel, digital technology, Airbus and especially our wine sector,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview.
He said he hoped the parties would find a way to resolve the dispute. “It may take some time, but in the meantime we can always order a moratorium,” he added.
In late December, the United States moved to increase tariffs on French and German aircraft parts, wines and other spirits in the Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute, but the bloc decided to give up retaliation for the time being.
The EU intends to present a proposal for a reform of the World Trade Organization in February and is ready to consider reforms to restrict the judicial authority of the WTO dispute settlement body.
The United States has been complaining for years that the WTO Appellate Body is adopting new unjustified trade rules in its decisions and has blocked the appointment of new judges to stop this, rendering the body inoperative.
The Trump administration, which is leaving office on Wednesday, has threatened to impose tariffs on cosmetics, handbags and other French goods in retaliation for the French digital services tax, which it said has discriminated against US technology companies.
Reporting by John Irish; Edited by Pravin Char