France’s finance minister said on Tuesday it was in the interest of Europe and the United States to find a friendly solution to their long-running WTO dispute, after the United States threatened new tariffs.
The U.S. Trade Representative on Monday proposed a list of EU products ranging from large commercial aircraft to dairy products and wine on which to impose tariffs as retaliation for European aircraft subsidies.
“The interest of our two countries, the interest of the United States and the European continent and France is to reach a friendly agreement,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a news conference in Paris.
“When I see the situation global growth is in, I don’t think we can afford to have a trade conflict even if only on the specific issues of the aircraft industry in the United States and Europe,” he added.