Briefs for Saturday

BRUSSELS – In a sign of goodwill to rebuild trans-Atlantic relations, the European Union and the United States have decided to suspend tariffs used in the longstanding Airbus-Boeing dispute, the EU Commission president said Friday.

Ursula von der Leyen said after remote talks with U.S. President Joe Biden that both sides “committed to focus on resolving our aircraft disputes, based on the work of our respective trade representatives.”

The suspension will last for an initial period of four months.

Von der Leyen called it “a very positive signal for our economic cooperation in the years to come.”

The EU is using the early months of the Biden administration to reset relations with the U.S. after four years of trans-Atlantic acrimony under former President Donald Trump.

Boeing CEO gets $20M in benefits

Boeing CEO David Calhoun declined a salary and performance bonus for most of last year but still received stock benefits that pushed the estimated value of his compensation to more than $21 million, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

The aerospace giant struggled last year with the continuing fallout from two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max jetliner and a downturn in demand for planes because of the pandemic. Boeing lost nearly $12 billion and announced plans to cut about 30,000 jobs through layoffs and attrition.

Calhoun, who became CEO in January 2020, received $269,231 in salary for the period before he disavowed his salary in March.

But most of Calhoun’s compensation – valued by Boeing at more than $20 million – came in the form of stock benefits that will vest in the next few years, assuming he remains CEO.

From wire reports