China Uses Tariff War as a Smokescreen to Make Its Move in the Civil Airline Market

Epoch Times

02-05-2025

Commentary
In a move rarely seen, China rejected and returned two Boeing 737 civil airliners that were already at the Boeing pre-delivery facility in the country that performs final finishing of the aircraft. The Boeing 737 Completion and Delivery Center is located in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. The completion center is a joint venture between Boeing and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. According to the
The top three Chinese airlines—Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines—had planned to take delivery of
Tariffs Gave China the Pretense to Trigger Its Civil Airliner Takeover Plan
In July 2024, The Epoch Times reported that Boeing and Airbus were in the crosshairs of the Chinese economic sector takeover plan. The second-largest aircraft lessor in the world,
An important red flag of concern has been attached to Comac by the U.S. Department of Defense, which
It is interesting that in the South China Morning Post on March 25, in advance of the tariff focus by the Trump administration,
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Even in advance of the current Tariff clashes, China was appearing to make its breakout move.
Comac Aircraft Certification by US/European Authorities a Bridge Too Far
A significant issue for Comac is the Western certification of their aircraft. The certification process requires transparency and visibility in many areas that Comac would likely be averse to cooperating with. The current certification progress of the C919 and other Comac aircraft by the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and its European equivalent, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), is lagging. Steven Udvar-Hazy, the executive chairman of one of the giants of commercial airliner leasing, Air Lease,
There is a concerning intersection of Comac with Boeing. In Italy, the Alenia facility outside Naples participates in the production of the Boeing 787, producing about a '
On Oct. 26, 2018, China, through Comac,
Is There Enough BRICS Market Share to Make the Chinese Airliners Viable?
The certification process is likely too difficult for Comac to achieve in the Western-aligned nations. The question is, is there enough market share in the Chinese, Russian, North Korean, Iranian, Venezuelan, and South African airline companies to make the Comac challenge to Boeing and Airbus a reality? Possibly.
The success of Airbus and Boeing is astonishing. There is an
This Airbus/Boeing success is potentially an incentive for China-aligned nations to obtain non-Western certified Comac aircraft. This may mean that their aircraft can only fly to and from China-aligned nations, but that may be good enough for those countries that choose to side with China.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.