French President Nicholas Sarkozy suggested during a joint press conference with President Barack Obama Tuesday that European aircraft maker EADS may rejoin the competition for a lucrative Air Force contract, drawing the ire of many U.S. lawmakers.   
“I said to [Obama], I trust you; if you tell me that the tender will be fair and transparent, then EADS will bid and we trust you,” Sarkozy told a joint press conference after meeting Obama at the White House. 

The European company dropped out of the competition for a $35 billion contract to supply the Air Force with a fleet of aerial refueling tankers earlier this month after its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman, pulled out, citing the terms of the contact, which, the company said, favored U.S. aircraft maker Boeing.    
For most of the decade, the two companies have engaged in a battle to win the multi-billion dollar contract.  The acrimonious bidding process is already spilling into its ninth year.  The process has become a politically sensitive issue plagued by scandals, investigations, trade disputes and accusations of collusion between the Air Force and Boeing. 

Most recently, the World Trade Organization found that Airbus has been the beneficiary of illegal trade practices. The WTO in September issued a preliminary ruling that found that “launch aid” loans provided to Airbus for the development of a refueling tanker it planned to use to bid on an Air Force contract amounted to illegal subsidies. Airbus reportedly received $5.7 billion in loans, which also have a cap on royalties. 

Before that, the contract was awarded to Airbus, but later stripped after the Government Accountability Office determined the bidding process contained “significant errors.” 
In November, Airbus officials accused the Pentagon of providing Boeing with information, such as pricing information, putting them at a competitive disadvantage. 

In the latest dust-up, EADS has requested changes to the bidding process and asked for a 90-day extension of the May 10 deadline to enter a proposal – a request that has incensed many U.S. lawmakers.   

“This is wrong,” Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) said in a statement. “It’s wrong to slow down this critical procurement process and it’s wrong to delay for a foreign company that receives illegal subsidies. Our entire military relies on refueling tankers which were built in the 1950s. It makes no sense to extend the deadline to allow a foreign consortium led by European governments to compete for an American refueling tanker.” 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, 14,000 American jobs are at stake in the deal in the near-term. The winner of the contract will also be provided a built in advantage in future competitions, which is significant because the Air Force will likely replace its entire fleet of again tankers in the near future, at an ultimate cost of $100 billion.

“The Europeans need illegal subsidies to compete in the marketplace and now they are asking the U.S. government to subsidize their timeline. Enough is enough and Congress will fight efforts to slow this down to appease European governments,” Brownback said.

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