Photo taken on the opening day of the 2024 Farnborough International Air Show in southwest London on July 22, 2024, of an Airbus A321 XLR aircraft equipped with CFM LEAP engines.
Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images
European aerospace companies are bracing for “very strong” protectionism under US President-elect Donald Trump, the planemaker’s chief executive airbus said Thursday.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, who serves as the head of the French GIFAS aerospace industry association, told reporters that the supply chain has not yet recovered from the impact of the epidemic.
Airbus is expected to announce later on Thursday that it will deliver 766 aircraft in 2024, up 4% from the previous year, while order intake slows from a record high in 2023.
Faury said that in addition to the European aerospace sector, the industry faces strong aerospace and defense demand, coupled with supply chain difficulties, geopolitical tensions and increasing competition from India and elsewhere.
Faury said that in the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration, European industry was preparing for a shift to protectionism, which has not yet been defined but is likely to be announced.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on foreign goods as part of his “America First” economic agenda.
Europe’s aerospace industry has benefited from strong demand for commercial aircraft and rising defense spending, while facing overcapacity and thousands of job cuts in the satellite sector.
Faury said European defense companies faced what he called an unreasonable shortage of banking financing in light of the war in Ukraine.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the industry said defense should account for a larger share of investment portfolios, while Europe’s sustainable investors remain opposed.
Faury, who serves as rotating president of France’s aerospace lobby, made demands of Prime Minister Francois Bellew’s government, which took office last month, including continued support for emissions reduction research and easing of corporate charges.
The former auto executive said the history of the French auto industry showed it was possible to fall from a strong export surplus in 2000 to a serious deficit.
“We don’t want the aviation industry to repeat the mistakes of other industries,” he told a news conference.
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