The Trump administration has begun an investigation into the importation of commercial airplanes, reaction engines and relationships that could lead to new tariffs in addition to the many that have already implemented.
According to a federal notice published online on Friday, the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, began the investigation on May 1 under a provision of the Commercial Expansion Law, which allows the President to impose tariffs on foreign products in the interest of national security.
President Trump has already used that authority to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel, and to begin similar research, including one last month in semiconductors and pharmaceutical products.
As part of the New Research, said the Department of Commerce, will see the contribution of the industry to the demand for airplanes, engines and parts and if that could be fulfilled nationwide; The role that foreign suppliers play in the market; The extent that foreign governments favor these companies; and other problems.
Import tariffs could damage the aerospace industry, which has produced one of the largest commercial surpluses of any industry for years, but depends largely on specialized suppliers that extend throughout the world. In some cases, only a few manufacturers can produce crucial parts or just one. The aerospace industry exports around $ 125 billion this year, according to Ibisworld, only surpassed by oil and gas.
“Our registration of commercial surpluses, creation of employment and innovative contributions both to air transport and national defense is the best news for the US economy among all manufacturing sectors,” said Eric Fanning, president of the Aerospace Association of Industries, in Astement. “We hope to participate with the Commerce Department to identify opportunities to strengthen our National Supply Chain while we delay the commercial framework that hash allowed our global leadership in the aerospace.”
Boeing, which manufactures commercial airplanes, recently described the direct effects of the tariffs Trump had imposed to the child as minor, but said it was a concern for the toll they could have on their suppliers. The company’s executive director, Kelly Ortberg, told Wall Street analysts last month that Boeing was paying 10 percent of tariffs on components for wide body planes imported from Japan and Italy, but that the company hoped to recover those costs.
RTX, which manufactures engines and plane parts, estimated last month that tariffs this year would cost him $ 850 million. GE Aerospace, another engines manufacturer, said he waited $ 500 million in tariff costs this year.
Governments have often tried to protect and promote their aviation industries with tariffs and subsidies. The United States and the European Union fought for many years on whether the other was providing unfair subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, the largest commercial aircraft manufacturers in the world. Airbus is based in France and has extensive operations in several European countries.