US Warns EU over Loan Subsidy to Airbus

[ABS News Service/28.10.2026]

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is warning the European Union that a record-breaking loan to aircraft manufacturer Aircraft threatens to undo a hard-fought bilateral trade deal.

In a statement, Mr. Greer complained that Brussels has failed to provide information about the details of the $3.4 billion loan made in June by the European Investment Bank.

“I had sincerely hoped that trade-distorting European subsidies to Airbus were a thing of the past,” he said. “For decades, France, Germany, and Spain have aggressively supported Airbus, their national champion aircraft manufacturer, to gain an unfair advantage over US aerospace workers and businesses.”

Washington and Brussels spent years engaged in a dispute at the World Trade Organization over aircraft subsidies that resulted in the imposition of tariffs on both sides.

Those tariffs were paused after the two sides agreed they would provide financing to large civil aircraft on market terms.

“Yet, this summer, almost immediately after the EU extended this pause, the European Investment Bank awarded Airbus its largest loan ever to benefit Airbus projects in France, Germany and Spain,” Mr. Greer said.

“Despite ongoing requests, USTR still has no details about this loan. This situation injects substantial uncertainty into transatlantic trade in the aerospace sector. It is important this situation is resolved as soon as possible to ensure market-driven production in the aerospace sector and to avoid violation of the terms of our hard-won LCA deal.”

An Airbus spokesman was quoted in a Reuters news service report as saying the loan “is a standard corporate financing facility, similar to commercially-available loans we've signed in the past.”