The trade group representing the largest U.S. airlines has called on the Obama administration to launch legal action against the European Union in a bid to end the bloc’s controversial carbon-trading market.
The Airlines for America lobby group dropped its own lawsuit against the EU and called on the Obama administration to bring a case through the International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations. The move came as the EU commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, arrived in Washington for talks with government and airline officials amid an escalating diplomatic row between the bloc and its biggest trading partners.
The U.S. has said it will take “appropriate action” if the EU continues the scheme, while other nations are said to have already started retaliatory measures, with Airbus maintaining China is holding up billions of dollars in aircraft deals. Chinese authorities have not confirmed the move but, like officials in other nations, have raised the potential for retaliation. Dow Jones Newswires
