Indonesia Threatens to Halt Airbus Jet Orders Over Palm Oil Feud

Indonesia is pushing its domestic airlines to halt purchase of Airbus SE planes in retaliation for curbs imposed by the European Union on use of palm biodiesel, according to a Bloomberg report in The Jakarta Post on August 23. 

The Indonesian threat to turn its back on Airbus is the fallout of European Union’s decision earlier this year to place stricter limits on palm oil’s use in biofuels on concerns over deforestation.  Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, last week also threatened to slap retaliatory tariffs on import of dairy products from EU after the bloc imposed anti-subsidy duties on its palm oil biodiesel.