U.S. halts tech sales to COMAC amid China trade tensions
WASHINGTON: The United States has suspended some sales to China of critical U.S. technologies, including those related to jet engines to Chinese state-owned aerospace manufacturer COMAC, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Citing two people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the move was in response to China's recent restriction on exports of critical minerals to the U.S. The paper said the department had suspended some licenses that allowed U.S. firms to sell products and technology to COMAC to develop its C919 aircraft.
The Commerce Department and Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The C919 is made in China but many of its components come from overseas, including its LEAP engine which is made by GE Aerospace and French engine maker Safran. GE Aerospace did not offer an immediate comment.
The C919 - designed to compete with best-selling narrow-body models of dominant planemakers Airbus and Boeing - entered service in China in 2023 after winning domestic safety certification in 2022.
The C919 currently only flies within China and Hong Kong.
In 2020, the first Trump administration granted a license to GE to supply engines for the jet. 'I want China to buy our jet engines, the best in the World,' Trump said in February 2020. 'I want to make it EASY to do business with the United States, not difficult.'
GE was licensed for the LEAP engines in 2014.
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