U.S. Watches As Airbus “Creams” Boeing

Citizens of Toulouse, France, and European aircraft maker Airbus celebrated as a “gigantic” new assembly line for the new super-jumbo A380 was unveiled to acclaim and many other fine adjectives last week. Airbus, the consortium of European companies, has (according to the numbers) displaced Boeing as the world’s leading producer of commercial aircraft. That sits very poorly with Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who railed against U.S. inaction during comments Thursday on the Senate floor. Murray, who is up for re-election this year, says Europe is engaging in unfair trade practices that are resulting in the “subsidized slaughter” of American companies. She is calling for the creation of a congressional committee on aerospace competitiveness to help promote Boeing in the face of a “creaming” by Airbus. Neither Airbus nor Boeing had any reaction to Sen. Murray’s remarks.