This week a new chapter in the tariff war between the United States and China entered the scene, the Chinese government banned the import of Boeing aircraft and American parts.
This latest measure is likely to harm production of the COMAC C919 and C909, the two Chinese single-aisle aircraft that have entered the market to compete with Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.
The C919 is a commercial jet with seating for 156 to 168 engers and is a direct competitor to the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320neo. The C909, with seating for 78 to 90 engers, is a regional jet. Bloomberg reported this week on the ban, but did not mention details about imports of parts for COMAC manufacturing, whether imports of parts for COMAC jets will be affected or whether it only refers to imported parts for Boeing jets.
American components used in the manufacture of COMAC
As we have already written here at Aeroflap, COMAC uses several American components, starting with the engines. The C909 uses the American CF34 engines from GE Aviation, the C919 uses the LEAP-1C engines from CFM, a holding company between GE Aviation and Safran, the same engine used in the 737 MAX and A320 A321, in the 1B and 1A variants. The 1C variant is manufactured in Villaroche in , theoretically it will not affect COMAC.
In the avionics department, for the C919, AVIAGE SYSTEMS was created, a 50/50 t venture between General Electric Company (GE) and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). It has a subsidiary in Chengdu, China. We do not have information on what is imported from the United States. The Honeywell, HBAS and HonFei t venture, also based in China, was created to supply APU, fly-by-wire, wheels, brakes and others.
Chinese airlines buying additional engines
Chinese airlines are also reportedly placing orders for new Airbus planes with additional engines to maintain a reserve of engines, Bloomberg reported. Airbus' LEAP-1A aircraft are manufactured in , where the LEAP-1C engines are also manufactured.
There are still many uncertain issues with this tariff war between the United States and China, the United States is China's largest foreign market. In 2024, the United States imported US$440 billion from China, which resulted in a US trade deficit of US$295 billion.
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