ABSTRACT
To understand better the problems subsidies have caused in key industrial sectors, and the challenges US policy faces in combating them, this chapter focuses on three specific case studies: civilian aerospace, steel, and forest products. Airbus Industrie of Europe is a consortium of airplane manufacturers responsible for one of the most successful entries into a high-tech, high-investment industry. Since its inception, Airbus has received approximately $13–14 billion in direct subsidies and below-market-rate loans, and, as a result, it has been free to invest in new technologies and offer excellent financing deals for its customers. The difficulties faced by the US steel companies are unique in that they have had to compete with foreign steel companies receiving massive government subsidies, in both US and foreign markets, and to weather a period of world overcapacity that also contributed to large-scale dumping in the relatively open US market.
