European Union to challenge trade ruling against Airbus

The European Union is appealing a trade ruling that found it had provided government aid to aircraft maker Airbus, the archrival of U.S. company Boeing.

The World Trade Organization said in a statement Thursday the EU is contesting the ruling that it has not complied with a June 2011 decision that it and four member countries provided subsidized financing to Airbus.

While the EU subsequently claimed to have come into compliance, the United States disagreed and requested that a compliance panel intervene. The WTO ruled mostly in favor of the U.S. on Oct. 6.

The international body, which helps solve trade disputes, found the EU had provided billions of dollars more in subsidies, causing lost sales worth tens of billions of dollars for Airbus' chief competitor, Boeing Co.