IATA to oppose Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on aircraft, components, engines, ET Infra

Time of India

2 days ago

Advt
Advt
India impact
By ,
ETInfra
Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.
Get updates on your preferred social platform Follow us for the latest news, insider access to events and more.
NEW DELHI: The International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) will oppose a move by the Donald Trump administration , which has called upon the US Department of Commerce to initiate an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and associated components.The investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which enables the US President to impose tariffs or restrict imports on the grounds of national security.'The comments (to be submitted to the US Commerce Department) are due on Tuesday. We are submitting comments on this and we are arguing that it doesn't make sense. We are hopeful that they will decide that there is no basis for pursuing this,' said Doug Lavin, Vice President for North America at IATA, to ET Infra on the sidelines of the 81st Annual General Meeting of the trade association held in Delhi from June 1 to June 3, 2025.'We hope that the Trump administration will recognise that not only will this disrupt international aviation, but it is short sighted given the fact that the US is the largest exporter of these products in the world,' added Lavin.The investigation will focus on whether import of aircraft, engines and associated components, are a threat to US national security and is a precursor to imposing tariffs on aircraft and parts coming into the US.Over the last two decades Indian companies such Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Dynamatic Technologies Ltd, among others, have become major suppliers of aerospace parts and components for US companies like Boeing. If the investigation by the US Commerce Department results in imposition of tariffs or import restriction into the US, it could potentially have an impact on Indian companies.'The US is the biggest exporter of parts and engines and aircraft. However, the US manufacturers depend on about 700 suppliers around the world,' said Lavin.'I am sure there are a lot of suppliers in India. So if those suppliers are not able to import into the United States what they are selling to the US aircraft manufacturers, it will certainly have an impact on India and on the US,' added Lavin.According to Boeing, its sourcing from India stands at $1.25 billion a year from a network of more than 300 suppliers.Recently, Trump's move on imposing tariffs on trading partners received a setback. In May, the US Court of International Trade ruled that using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act by the US President and imposing tariffs was illegal.'The president can only pursue tariffs under one of two different mechanisms. One is to say that it is a national emergency and another is to say that it is a threat to national security,' said Lavin.'He was pursuing the national emergency side and that's what the court said last week, that they put a stay on that. So, now the second side is this, the so-called 232 investigations,' he added.Lavin highlighted that the investigation, if initiated by the US Commerce Department, will take about a year to be completed.