Airbus: Play by the rules

Opinion: July 7, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Seattle Times: Ten years ago, thousands of people came to Seattle to condemn the World Trade Organization. In its ruling Wednesday, the WTO has shown its value to Seattle.

Under the WTO agreement, member governments promise each other not to subsidize their companies in ways that distort trade. For years, Boeing has complained that European governments have subsidized its rival Airbus Industrie in just that way. In 2004, the United States filed the complaint that led to the ruling Wednesday.

In its ruling, the WTO said European subsidies to Airbus caused Boeing to lose business in China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and probably India. The WTO said EU subsidies have created a “serious prejudice to the interests of the United States.”

The Europeans have reminded everyone that they filed a countercomplaint against the United States over subsidies to Boeing. The preliminary ruling on that case is due soon.

If the EU is paying illegal subsidies, it should stop them. Airbus should pay the recent ones back. WTO rulings are not self-enforcing. Members enforce them by political pressure, economic threats and moral suasion.

At the moment, the commercial-jet market is divided between Airbus and Boeing. But these two face the threat of competitors from China, Russia and Brazil, countries that will be tempted to elbow their way into the market by cheating.

The United States and Europe need to present a common front in support of WTO rules — and that means playing by the rules themselves.