Trade negotiators on both sides of the Atlantic traded mostly barbs this week, as the dispute over aircraft subsidies turned caustic.

The United States is also continuing to seek a global agreement to reduce aircraft subsidies even more than the pact with Europe would achieve.

Though the fight over the export tax break is separate from the fight over aircraft subsidies, the disputes are closely linked in the minds of both American and European officials.

Like the unresolved questions facing the financial services industry, the debate over the aircraft subsidies was put off, and the Geneva negotiators set no deadline to resolve the matter.

C1 Subsidy Battle Reignited Washington and Brussels took complaints to the World Trade Organization after bilateral talks over commercial aircraft subsidies failed.

The final pieces of the old dispute, along with the disagreement on aircraft subsidies, pose a problem for Mr. Mandelson, Mr. Bentley said.

He barely mentioned the trade dispute between the United States and the European Union over aircraft subsidies, currently before the World Trade Organization.

President Clinton criticized European aircraft subsidies in February, but praised the agreement on Friday.

The reversal of fortune comes just as the European Union is fighting a mammoth trade suit brought by the United States on aircraft subsidies.

"Important difficulties, particularly on the cinema issue, but also on shipping, textiles, financial services and aircraft subsidies, remain."