BRUSSELS: The United States and European Union have agreed to suspend the tariffs imposed over the Airbus-Boeing disputes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with American President Joe Biden.

The move came after the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) authorized the EU to take countermeasures against "illegal subsidies" granted to the US aircraft maker Boeing.

During their call on Friday, the two leaders agreed to suspend the tariffs, both on aircraft and non-aircraft products, for an initial period of four months, Xinhua news agency quoted von der Leyen as saying in a statement. "We both committed to focusing on resolving our aircraft disputes," she said.

"This is excellent news for entrepreneurs and industries on both sides of the Atlantic, and a very positive signal for our economic cooperation in the years to come." Taking to Twitter, she further confirmed the development calling it a "fresh start for our partnership". The EU put in place countermeasures against US exports by slapping tariffs on American products worth USD4 billion last November.

In October 2019 following a similar WTO decision in a parallel case on Airbus subsidies, Washington started to impose retaliatory duties that would affect EU exports worth USD7.5 billion, and the duties remained even after European governments took decisions to ensure full compliance with WTO rules and removed the grounds for the U. to maintain the tariffs in July 2020.

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