House Republicans Urge Administration to Avoid Tariffs in Aerospace
The House Aerospace Caucus co-chair, and 23 other Republicans, are asking the administration to preserve zero tariffs for aerospace goods that have been in place since 1979 under the Civil Aircraft Agreement, and to push for more countries to pledge to allow imports of commercial aircraft and parts duty-free. (The U.S. is one of 58 countries that follow the agreement, though since the reciprocal tariffs were imposed, most aerospace imports outside Canada, Mexico and the U.K. are facing tariffs.)
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., led the letter, and was joined by many on the Ways and Means Committee, the Transportation Committee chairman, and others.
The letter was sent to the U.S. trade representative, but it's the Commerce Department that is considering whether tariffs or quotas are warranted on commercial planes, helicopters and their parts to protect national security.
They argued that aerospace and defense manufacturing, which employs 2.2 million at more than 100,000 firms, is high wage, and that $135.9 billion in aerospace and defense goods were exported in 2023, with a trade surplus of $74.5 billion.
It is the largest surplus in manufacturing.
"Since the Agreement came into effect in 1980, the U.S. trade surplus in A&D has grown over 2,000 percent. American companies control the high end of the value chain, increasing U.S. competitiveness and our trade surplus," they wrote, calling the agreement "a key reason for American dominance in the global aerospace industry."