[WTO Case Review Series No.32] United States – Conditional Tax Incentives for Large Civil Aircraft (DS487): Development of interpretation related to subsidies contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods (Japanese)

This dispute is one of the series of WTO disputes between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) concerning subsidies provided for civil aircraft, of which the core issue is whether the tax system of Washington State in the United States which includes tax advantages for the purpose of attracting investment in production facilities for civil aircraft falls within subsidies contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods, which are prohibited under Article 3.1(b) of the WTO Subsidies Agreement. After ruling that the EU alleged subsidies programs constituted "subsidies," concerning the other requirement of "contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods," the Panel rejected de jure contingency, which the EU argued for, while it accepted de facto contingency of some of the subsidies programs concerned. On the appeal, the Appellate Body reversed some of the Panel’s findings and rejected the EU’s argument for de facto contingency. This paper analyzes how these reports develop the interpretation related to subsidies contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods.