Editorial
The good fight

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European aid to Airbus must end. It is good that the Bush administration will file a case at the World Trade Organization, and that it has taken the advice of Sen. Patty Murray and canceled the 1992 aerospace treaty with the European Union.

It is not a normal thing to go about canceling treaties with one's friends, but sometimes it has to be done. Airbus is no longer in diapers. It has half the world market in large commercial jet aircraft. It is a full-grown company and ought to be taking the same business risks as Boeing. Under the 1992 treaty, European taxpayers take 30 percent of the risk of a new plane. A loan is provided, and if the new plane flops, the loan is forgiven. These are not commercial terms.

The European Union has filed a WTO countersuit, alleging that Boeing is subsidized by having government defense business and tax breaks from the state of Washington. The defense argument is probably bunk — first, because the company that owns Airbus has as much defense business as Boeing and, second, because a commercial sale is not a subsidy but the exchange of money for a product. Only if the buyer overpays is there a subsidy.

Our state tax breaks may augment Boeing's profit, but they do not assume any risks of loss. A senior U.S. trade official said he believes our state's package for Boeing is defensible under the WTO agreement.

This is a fight worth having, and worth winning.