USTR Greer tells EU that loan to Airbus threatens trade truce on aircraft financing

By David Lawder and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the European Union on Monday that a lack of information about its record-breaking loan to Airbus threatens a delicate transatlantic trade truce, including on financing large civil aircraft (LCA) projects.

In a statement, Greer expressed frustration that despite "ongoing requests," his office has received no details about the $3.4 billion loan made in June from the European Investment Bank, the EU's official lending arm.

US planemaker Boeing had asked the US government in July to press for transparency on the loan, which came amid speculation that Airbus would use the funds to develop a new aircraft model.

"This situation injects substantial uncertainty into transatlantic trade in the aerospace sector," Greer said. "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 said the EIB loan "is a standard corporate financing facility, similar to commercially-available loans we've signed in the past.

"We are actively engaging with the relevant authorities and are happy to share more information about the loan with governments," the spokesman said in an emailed statement. The loan was also meant to diversify Airbus' funding sources, which was "necessary to manage the complexity of a high-value global production system and supply chain."

The US and EU fought a protracted 17-year battle over alleged aircraft subsidies at the World Trade Organization, with both sides winning partial victories before agreeing to a five-year truce in 2021 that forestalled mutual tariffs on some $11.5 billion worth of trade.

The truce was extended in July after the EU parliament approved a broader US trade deal that removed tariffs on US industrial goods in return for a 15% US tariff on most EU goods. US President Donald Trump had threatened higher tariffs unless EU member states met a July 4 deadline for ratifying the deal initially reached in July 2025.

A key question for USTR is whether the terms of the EIB loan would be considered a subsidy for Airbus, as the WTO has found in the past on such loans.

Boeing did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment on Greer's statement.

The EIB said in July that it finances thousands of companies every year and denied offering Airbus any unusual support. "This is a normal loan, carrying interest, part of the EIB's overall financing activity," a spokesperson for the lender said.

Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer also told reporters in London in July that the loan had been taken out "completely at market level."

(Reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast.)