— In football, there are some basic rules. You can’t bulk up with the help of performance-enhancing drugs. You can’t hit below the waist to take out your opponent’s knees. These rules and others are meant to ensure fair play. Break them, and you’ll get flagged, suspended, or even banned.

International trade has rules as well. You’re not supposed to beef up your business’ prospects with the help of government subsidies. You’re not supposed to block trading partners from selling their goods on your shores. Yet these are exactly the kinds of dirty tactics used by the Europe Union and the aerospace company it created, Airbus. And there’s a lot more at stake than a football game. The future of America’s aerospace industry, Texas businesses, and job creation are on the line.

In one of their most recent and glaring examples of flouting free trade principles, Europe provided Airbus with $5 billion of subsides in an attempt to cheat its U.S. competitor, Boeing, out of a fair chance at a $35 billion Pentagon contract and the more than 50,000 jobs it would support, including 2,500 in Texas. The subsidies, which came in the form of below market rate loans, helped build the airborne refueling tanker Airbus wants to sell to the Air Force.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) threw the flag on Airbus, recently ruling the subsidies illegal. But the EU and Airbus blithely ignored the world’s free trade referee. They’re pressing ahead and trying to get U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for their subsidized tanker that will destroy American jobs.

We shouldn’t be surprised by the EU and Airbus’ behavior in the tanker contract. For years, they’ve broken trade laws in an attempt to steal American aerospace jobs and market share. They’ve already pilfered tens of thousands of American jobs with the help of illegal EU subsidies. In fact, Airbus has benefited from $178 billion of subsidies over the last 20 years.

And Airbus isn’t just using subsidies to kill American jobs. Officials of their parent company, EADS, have even been implicated in attempts to bribe foreign officials to purchase their aircraft over those built by U.S. firms. Their friends in European parliaments also do their best to ensure that Airbus’ competitors are virtually blocked from bidding on some lucrative defense contracts in EU countries.

Given its outlaw history, it should come as no surprise that Airbus is now attempting to cheat its way to victory in the tanker contract competition. For too long, we’ve stood on the sidelines and let them get away with it. So it’s past time we stopped playing powder puff with trade cheats and got tough. There’s too much at stake for Texas businesses to do any less.

For example, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, Parker Aerospace would build many components for a Boeing tanker, including its hoses, tubes and fittings. Nearby at Vought Aircraft Industries in Grand Prairie, they’d construct portions of the plane’s aft body section and its horizontal stabilizer. But not if Airbus steals the tanker deal. It would be a devastating blow to Texas businesses that are already struggling to create jobs despite the tough economic climate, uncertainty about federal tax policy, and increasingly burdensome regulations.

But here’s a game plan that can help Texas businesses by ensuring a fair tanker competition.  Congress and the Obama administration should direct the Pentagon’s procurement officials to insist that Airbus compete without the help of their subsidies. If Airbus should refuse, the Defense Department must account for the value of the subsidies when weighing the tanker bids. That’s the only way that bids from Airbus and Boeing can be fairly and accurately compared.

There’s no instant replay in international trade. If Airbus cheats its way to victory, the $35 billion tanker contract and its more than 50,000 jobs will head overseas. Instead of employing Texans, it will provide jobs to Airbus’ French, German and Spanish workforce. It’s time tackle this critical economic issue before Airbus bull rushes its way to an ill-gotten victory.

 

Bill Hammond is the President and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, Texas’ leading employer organization.