The European Union and the United States have agreed to suspend all customs duties for four months in the wake of years of conflict over subsidies to aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus.

The move marks a restart of transatlantic relations, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a telephone conversation with United States President Joe Biden, DW reported.

Both sides expressed their commitment to the settlement of the trade dispute.

The dispute over government assistance to Boeing and its European rival Airbus has been going on for more than 16 years. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has declared part of the subsidies unacceptable for both aircraft manufacturers.

European penalties on a range of US products, introduced in 2018, affected US food products, as well as Harley-Davidson jeans and motorcycles. In 2019, the WTO allowed the United States to levy duties on European goods and services totaling approximately € 7.5 billion. Airbus planes were affected, as well as wine, cheese, and olive oil.

In October 2020, the WTO allowed the EU to impose punitive duties on goods imported from the United States worth almost 3.4 billion euros per year. New EU penalties came into force in November, affecting agricultural and industrial products. Washington later expanded duties on aircraft components from Germany and France, and on certain varieties of French and German wines and brandies.