Customs taxes: US aerospace industry warns Donald Trump

Donald Trump is making new enemies with his tariffs, even on American soil. This time, it's the aerospace industry that's stepping up.

Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are concerned about the Trump administration's tariffs , and they're making it known. They formally wrote to the Department of Commerce in early June, essentially saying, "Watch out, America is shooting itself in the foot." Their argument makes sense. Imposing prohibitive tariffs on imported civil aviation technology will harm manufacturing chains. Importing more expensive spare parts can only increase aircraft manufacturing costs and harm American industry.

The entire industry is directly affected, and Donald Trump could have thought of this sooner. In reality, well after the American president's announcement of his intention to tax global trade, the Ministry of the Economy in Washington realized there could be a problem and therefore asked—late, in early May—the affected manufacturers to share their thoughts. A month later, the American aerospace sector is putting forward its arguments, which, by now, should be heard.

The U.S. aerospace and defense industry has enjoyed a healthy trade surplus for over 70 years, with exports totaling $136 billion, including $114 billion from civil aviation alone. The sector employs 2.2 million people in the United States in approximately 100,000 companies.

Donald Trump's trade policy directly affects the competitiveness of American industry. Especially since the American aerospace sector has benefited for nearly fifty years from an international agreement that has reduced tariffs and trade barriers to nothing. Washington's new policy would therefore be more than a grain of sand in this hitherto well-oiled machine. Once again, Donald Trump finds himself facing his contradictions: after the inflationary impact of his policy on American consumers, it is the manufacturers who are rebelling. Clearly, this is only the beginning of the story, that of the tables being turned, so to speak.