Boeing lawsuits over Lion Air crash may move to Indonesia

Bloomberg

A federal judge in Chicago signalled he may let dozens of lawsuits against Boeing Co over the crash of a Lion Air plane be resolved in Indonesia.
US District Judge Thomas Durkin said during a status hearing that US Supreme Court and appellate court rulings appear to support the idea of a venue change.
“The law is pretty favourable to move this case,” Durkin said. “I haven’t decided the motion, but plaintiffs” should read case law that set precedent on when and whether similar cases can be moved to a foreign jurisdiction, he said.
The lawsuits stem from a crash that killed 189 people in Indonesia shortly after takeoff on October 29, 2018.
The company also faces claims from an Ethiopian Airlines crash in Africa, which killed 157 in March.
Where the claims are litigated will influence settlement talks, which have been taking place with a mediator since July, according to the judge. Durkin said the case can’t move forward until he rules on the venue.
Boeing has said in court filings it plans to make a formal request for a change of venue, though one has yet to be made.
The company argues that because the aircraft was maintained in Indonesia and piloted by Indonesians, the cases belong there.
Almost 60 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of 153 family members or estates of the Lion Air victims. Their attorneys have argued that because the aircraft was manufactured in the US, the cases should be litigated in Chicago, where Boeing is based.
So far, 19 cases have settled, Boeing lawyer Mack Schultz Jr told the judge, adding that the company is committed to negotiating in good faith.
A status hearing was scheduled for November 21.
The judge also ordered Boeing to hand over documents the company already produced for plaintiffs in the Ethiopian case.

EU sends US warning of ‘tariffs’ over Boeing aid
Bloomberg

The EU pledged to impose tit-for-tat tariffs against the US in a longstanding transatlantic dispute over illegal aid to aircraft manufacturers.
The renewed vow by European trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom came as President Donald Trump’s administration triggered duties on $7.5 billion of EU goods ranging from planes to spirits in retaliation over market-distorting subsidies to Airbus SE.
Malmstrom said the EU would apply its own levies on a range of US products “in due course” as a result of unlawful aid to Boeing Co, signalling the bloc will hold its fire until the World Trade Organization fixes the damages sum in a decision due next year.
The EU has drawn up a plan for countermeasures worth $12 billion.
“This step leaves us no alternative but to follow through in due course with our own tariffs in the Boeing case, where the US has been found in breach of WTO rules,” Malmstrom said in an emailed statement in Brussels.
Europe has been gearing up for an escalation of the 15-year-old fight over aircraft subsidies while warning the Trump administration against resorting to tariffs and urging it to seek a negotiated solution.