Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The World Trade Organization ruled Wednesday the Trump administration has legal ground to impose new tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European exports, because of subsidies the global body considers illegal that were given to aircraft manufacturer Airbus years ago.
The U.S. government filed the complaint against the French aviation giant in 2004, under former President George W. Bush's administration, arguing unlawful subsidies from Britain, France, Germany and Spain gave Airbus an unfair advantage over rival plane maker and U.S. industry giant Boeing. The complaint estimated the resulting U.S. economic harm to be between $7 billion and $10 billion per year.