Biden welcomes Boeing-Airbus deal, agreement to challenge China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed the "major breakthrough" in a Boeing-Airbus trade dispute and an agreement with the European Union to counter China's "non-market practices."

The U.S. president arrived in Geneva on Tuesday after the deal with the European Union was announced following talks in Brussels.

"Both the U.S. and EU agreed to suspend our tariffs for five years, and we committed to ensuring a level playing field for our companies and our workers," Biden said in a statement.

"Significantly, we also agreed to work together to challenge and counter China’s non-market practices in this sector that give China's companies an unfair advantage."

Biden said the United States and European Union would work together in specific ways, including on inward and outbound investment and technology transfer.

"It’s a model we can build on for other challenges posed by China’s economic model," he said.

He said "values like fair competition and transparency" that were shared by the United States and EU made democracies everywhere stronger.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Edmund Blair)