US Republican senators visiting the Paris air show expressed support for aerospace-specific tariff exemptions and broadly warned against policies that might disrupt global aerospace trade.
The lawmakers did not criticise president Trump’s newly imposed import taxes. And while some called tariffs necessary to address certain trade imbalances, they broadly expressed support for maintaining the free-trade policies that have long defined the sector.
The comments indicate leading Republicans are cognizant of industry concerns about risks posed by trade wars.
Republican senator Katie Britt from Alabama, home to Airbus’s A320neo and A220 manufacturing site in Mobile, says the US Senate must support the ability of Airbus and Boeing to “get this commercial backlog moving”.
Airlines globally will need thousands of new jets in the coming years, says Britt, a member of the influential Senate appropriations committee. “We’ve been working hand-in-glove… to make sure that the White House and others understand the importance of that.”
President Donald Trump has slapped 10% tariffs on European imports and 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican imports. However, Trump has at least temporarily maintained provisions exempting aerospace products traded between the USA, Canada and Mexico from the tariffs. The 10% taxes still apply to European-made products, including Airbus jets.
Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas, home to Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aviation and other aerospace firms, highlights the importance of maintaining the US-Canada-Mexico tariff exemption. Trump negotiated that exemption during this first administration and has left it in place at least temporarily.
Moran says he has been stressing to the Trump administration the importance of balancing support for US industry with benefits provided by decades of tariff-free aerospace trade. He notes the US aerospace industry is a net exporter of aerospace products – meaning it helps combat the alleged trade imbalance Trump has said his policies are intended to address.
“The [aerospace] trade balance is… so much better than in some instances,” Moran says. “We ought to make sure that we take advantage of the relationships that have been developed over a long period of time.”
Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana says tariffs are sometimes useful but broadly expresses disdain for “intervention by government in the free exchange of goods and services”.
“There’s no question that some countries have taken advantage of my country through the use of trade barriers,” Kennedy says. “I’d be perfectly happy if every country in the world reduced trade barriers…. If they’ll stop, we’ll stop.”
