In the aftermath, few Americans or Europeans believe that the Boeing affair was anything other than political. Most Americans believe the skirmish was a game of the Europeans to protect their champion Airbus. Most Europeans believe it was a game of the Americans to protect their champion Boeing. It is worth comparing the law of the United States with the law of the European Community, examining the divergences, and asking how Boeing-McDonnell Douglas might have been an antitrust case, start to finish, rather than a trade war. The U.S. and EU authorities reached different conclusions on the competitive effect of the merger.
Cynics find it obvious.
The Federal Trade Commission's allowing the merger promoted the U.S. champion, and the European Community's challenging the merger promoted the European champion. But this simple, obvious answer is almost surely wrong. Each set of experts appeared to apply the law on the merits. This was possible both because there was an arguable question of fact and because of differences in the law. The FCC answered no.