For over thirty years, the United States and the European Union have waged a bitter and seemingly eternal political battle over the manufacture and trade of large commercial aircraft. In 2005, they brought this dispute to the World Trade Organization by litigating through its Dispute Settlement Mechanism. With the arrival of decisions from the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, this long-running conflict enters a new phase. This Note proposes that DSM litigation will result in a negotiated settlement between the two parties. Starting with the histories of both the DSM and the LCA industry, it delineates how the WTO has created a system that continually encourages states to settle through the DSM’s textual provisions and extrinsic effects. The Note analyzes why and how a negotiated settlement will come about, building upon the settlement-oriented nature of the DSM and the industry’s history
