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Boeing: prosecution of a family of victims, condemnation of the WTO

One’s family Ethiopian Airlines crash victim keep it going Boeing in Chicago, accusing him of having put on the market a 737 MAX to the defective control system. The World Trade Organization (WTO), for its part, ruled in favor of the European Union in the matter of subsidies, a “great victory” for Airbus.

The family of UN employee Jackson Musoni, killed in the crash of the flight ET302Ethiopian Airlines (which led to the death of 157 people on board almost three weeks ago), filed a complaint on March 28, 2019 at the Federal Court of Chicago – where thirty rows of victims of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia have already been examined last October. Not surprisingly, the complainants question the Boeing 737 MAXinvolved in both incidents: the complaint states that the March 10 incident occurred due to ” among other things, because Boeing has designed a new flight control system for the Boeing 737 Max 8, which automatically and wrongly pushes the nose of the aircraft “According to their lawyer Steve Marks, the builder knowing all the reportsreporting on dangerous conditions and the previous accident that caused the death of over 150 people, should have taken measures to protect the traveling public “. This incident” it happened when it should never have arrived He added. This complaint would have been the first one presented in the United States after the collapse of Ethiopian Airlines according to the US press; Boeing did not comment.

The lawsuit was filed the day after the US manufacturer submitted its update MCAS system which will be proposed to DO, in order to stop the immobilization of the 371 MAX 8 and MAX 9 already in service worldwide – and to resume deliveries. the pilot training it will also be modified, although it will not yet require passage through the flight simulator – a weighty economic argument in favor of the 737 MAX for airlines wishing to replace their 737 NG, and which could be tried by the Airbus A320neo family.

Boeing suffered another shutdown Thursday, coming this time from World Trade Organization (WTO): The organ of appeal of the WTO confirmed that the United States ” he did not retire subsidies granted to Boeing by federal, state and local authorities in the United States and have not remedied the damage caused by these subsidies to Airbus “. The organ of appeal has rejected each of the arguments put forward by the United States and has taken into consideration all the legal points of the European Union, according to the declaration of this last eAirbus. In addition, the highest court of the WTO has also qualified a number of other federal and state programs in the United States ” of illegal subsidiesand even prohibited subsidies, as in the case of the FSC (Foreign Sales Corporation) “Which represents” a great victory for the EU “. This report calls on the United States and Boeing to take other measures“For compliance; in the absence of any reaction on their part, the European Union may request the adoption of countermeasures against imports of US products.

” For the EU and Airbus, this is a clear victory that confirms our position that Boeing, while identifying Airbus, has not taken any action to comply with its obligations. WTO, unlike Airbus and the EU. In light of this harmful relationship, Boeing can no longer continue to deny that it is receiving huge illegal subsidies from the US government. In other words, in the absence of an agreement, the United States will be required to to pay – perpetually – several billions the application of annual sanctions for each Boeing program in operation, while in the worst case the EU would do so only minor problems Says John Harrison, General Counsel of Airbus. ” We hope these conclusions will encourage the United States and Boeing to make constructive progress in resolving this longstanding dispute and join us in working for a fair trade environment. In the absence of a constructive approach, the EU will now have very strong legal arguments for moving towards countermeasures He added.

Boeing stated that the WTO had rejected ” any accusation of illegal subsidies to Boeing with the sole exception of one measure: the trade tax and the occupation of Washington “. Seen from the other side of the Atlantic, the decision is limited: with the exception of the relatively limited fiscal program of this state (one hundred million dollars), the decision of the WTO would not allow the decision. EU to demand damages from an arbitrator The level of retaliation that Europe would be able to impose on US goods and services is based on the damage done to Airbus rather than on the amount of aid granted to its American rival; both the parties will continue to fight the amounts involved.

To sum up this interminable conflict that seems to serve only politicians and lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic: since 2004, the WTO estimated the amount of illegal aid received by Boeing and $ 22 billion received from Airbus at $ 26 billion. No one has returned anything – and nobody is ready to launch a trade war, given the crossed industrial interests of the American and European aviation …

Boeing : poursuite d’une famille de victime, condamnation de l’OMC