A bipartisan group of nine U.S. senators on Monday sought to reassure defense contractors from American allies that growing demand for their products is real and urged the Trump administration not to impose tariffs on aerospace products.
"Our message is encouragement to them to increase their capabilities to send the message that the demand signal is for real," said Republican Senator Jerry Moran at the Farnborough airshow. "We are doing the things in Congress that suggest that the demand is only going to grow."
Moran added, "We need more demand to meet the demand for protecting our country." He said the event allows lawmakers to have talks especially with the Europeans "to reiterate and recommit ourselves that the United States wants to participate in a global economy and global national security."
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said the senators represent a broad swath of the U.S., where aerospace is significant. She noted the U.S. had its biggest presence ever at Farnborough.
She noted last year China had an increased presence at the Paris air show. "The fact that we have such a large presence is important not just to America's industry but also to the partnerships that we need to have around the world to not only improve our economic security but our national security," Shaheen said.
Shaheen said there are key places where the U.S. and European Union need to work together to address defense needs and the backlog.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Commerce Department said it had completed a probe into imported commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts and found foreign goods raise U.S. national security concerns but the Trump administration is not immediately seeking new tariffs.
Under heavy lobbying by the U.S. aviation sector, the Trump administration agreed to exempt airplanes and parts from tariffs as part of trade deals after briefly imposing tariffs on aviation last year.
Moran, Shaheen and others oppose tariffs.
Eric Fanning, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, noted that the U.S. aerospace and defense industry has seen a 25% export increase over the last year with more than 2 million U.S. employees. "We are by far the global leaders," Fanning said.
Airplanes and parts have enjoyed a tariff-free regime under the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement, in which the U.S. sector enjoyed a $75 billion annual trade surplus.
