It is not just the U.S. Trade Representative saying that. It is Airbus. For example, if you go to
www.airbus.com and search "A380" in the Press Release section, you will find a 19 December 2000 release saying that "Several European governments have indicated their intention to invest in the A380 programme. Government commitments are expected to follow the signature on industrial agreements in 2001."
The Economist magazine (a U.K. publication) states, regarding the A380 program, "The company has had some controversial help in getting this far. The British, French, German and Spanish governments have chipped in $4 billion in development loans repayable from sales revenues. " (See "Towards the wild blue yonder", 25 April 2002)