Tony Tyler in Beijing on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Beijing, June 12 (Agencies): The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today asked the European Union to put off the controversial carbon tax on all air travel over the sky of the western continent, warning of a trade war between Europe and countries such as India, Russia, China and the US.

“The European Commission has said all the time ‘we cannot amend our (carbon tax) scheme’ (which came into effect on January 1)... but as soon as the Indian and Chinese carriers didn’t comply they gave them more time,” IATA head Tony Tyler said here today.

Meanwhile, the China Air Transport Association today said the country would take swift counter-measures that could include impounding European aircraft if the EU punished Chinese airlines for not complying with its scheme to curb carbon emissions.

A new stand-off looms after EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the carriers would have until the end of this week to submit their data or face enforcement action.

Paul Steele, IATA director (aviation environment), warned that India, Russia, China and the US might start a trade war with Europe, which was still seen as holding a “pistol to the head” of the other countries.

“The last thing the IATA wants is a trade war or a tit-for-tat activity. We are on the brink of something like that happening (between EU and over 30 other countries). It is an extremely charged situation now,” Steele said.

Over 30 countries had gathered in Delhi and later in Moscow a few months ago and adopted a declaration opposing the EU’s decision to include air travel in their Emission Trading System (EU-ETS) and decided to take retaliatory measures.

The EU move entails high taxation on all aircraft movement on the European skies, including overflights.

Steele said the EU-ETS was “no longer an aviation, or climate issue, but a major political issue now. It is no longer an industry cost issue but an issue concerning sovereignty of nations”.

Observing that the battle was between the EU and the “coalition of the unwilling” countries, he said the IATA was working with the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation, to find a way out of the impasse.