Officials with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) are warning that the tariffs proposed by President Trump on Canada, Mexico, and China, could have “an enormous impact with many unintended consequences” on the general aviation manufacturing industry.
GAMA officials note that the general aviation industry delivers $247 billion in annual output and supports more than 1.1 million jobs in the United States.
In 2023, U.S. fixed-wing aircraft manufacturers exported a total of 490 piston, turboprop, and jet airplanes, representing about 24.6% of the total number of aircraft produced. These exports were valued at an estimated $5.2 billion, which was approximately 46% of all U.S. general aviation manufacturers’ total billings for fixed-wing aircraft.
The 2024 shipments and billings numbers, as well an updated U.S. Economic Impact Study, will be released Feb. 19, 2025.
“The U.S. aviation industry’s trade surplus and global competitiveness has benefited from generally being excluded from tariffs through the utilization of robust safety bilateral agreements between the U.S. and other countries to advance aviation safety and efficiently facilitate the global flow of products,” GAMA officials said.
The U.S. general aviation industry “benefits from this arrangement, given its collective technical strength, history of innovation, global competitiveness, and proven economic record as a net exporter. Additionally, these arrangements have led to stable and increased investment in research and development, engineering, advanced manufacturing processes. and innovation.”
“Tariffs would affect the intricate and very complex global supply chain that can take years to establish given that it relies on suppliers with unique capabilities that are highly regulated and therefore cannot be easily replaced,” they continued. “Even in instances where alternative suppliers may exist, or could be created domestically, aviation manufacturers cannot rapidly shift to different sources or facilities without FAA regulatory approval, potentially compromising contracts, safety and compliance, quality, and value to the consumer.”
They warn that another area that will be impacted is the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector, which employs almost 210,000 people in the United States.
“If the parts and products used in the MRO work are subject to tariffs, it could jeopardize the viability of domestic MROs and their highly skilled workforce, given that repair station work may be moved by aircraft owners and operators to outside the U.S. due to increasing costs,” GAMA officials said.
“It is vital to recognize that U.S. aviation manufacturing is in a global leadership position,” association officials emphasized. “This position can be improved by government policies and action focused on strengthening aviation safety agreements, policies, and investments to bolster innovation, as well as measures to address specific aviation supply chain challenges.”
GAMA officials added they are “committed to working with the Trump Administration to advance safety, job creation, and economic competitiveness in the industry.”
While the tariffs were supposed to go into effect Feb. 4, 2025, they were delayed on goods from Mexico and Canada for one month.
For more information: GAMA.aero
Lets think about the impact of these broad-based tariffs on GA.
How many of our aircraft are powered by Rotax engines made in Austria? Rotax has a very large installed user base, and there is no easy replacement. They’re already expensive, now add 25% to that. Oratex, which is (in my opinion) a lot easier to use than conventional fabric coverings, is from Germany, add 25% to that, the alternatives seem much more labor intensive. Many of the electronic components in our avionics are imported, as are many of the finished avionics themselves – add another 25%. How about the most basic of aircraft materials – aluminum? Canada sends us lots of it, they have cheap electricity to run the foundries, now add 25% to the cost of aluminum. (And in the air transport segment, consider how much aluminum there is in a 737 – so the airplane becomes more expensive, not any better, not any faster, not any more durable, so ticket prices have to go up as well.)
A side effect of tariffs is that companies protected by tariffs no longer have to compete on value, they can stagnate and continue business as usual, thus falling further and further behind the overseas competition. We’ve already seen what Japanese cars did to US automakers, who were FORCED to upgrade their same old same old products instead of just rearranging the chrome a little bit each year. Guess what, it is happening again, this time the cars are from China.
The whole point of globalization is to let other countries make the lower-tech, low value components, and we do what we do best, which is high tech and finished products. I don’t want to sew my own clothes, grow my own food, thatch my own roof, I prefer to be much further up the economic food chain, building satellites and advanced electronic devices.
We also have to recognize that we are no longer the “indispensable nation” that we were after WW2. If we become simply too difficult to deal with, other nations will form their own alliances, find their own customers, create their own technology, buy from alternate (non-US) sources, because we just won’t be worth the trouble and hassles involved in trying to work with us. That appears to be happening now, countries are forming alliances with China, perhaps reluctantly, but they see China as the lesser of two evils.
Tariffs are not the answer to fentanyl, remember we are BUYING it, so the best way to reduce the traffic in fentanyl is to reduce the demand – we need to know WHY people are buying it. Tariffs are not the answer to keeping US businesses competitive, in fact, they almost always guarantee that we’ll fall further behind because they know their inefficiencies will be “protected”.
Mark Twain said that for every problem, there is a fast, simple, easy answer . . . which is wrong. Act in haste, repent at leisure. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.
So, the GAMA folks are afraid the tariffs will force them to raise the price of that 25-cent Chinese O-ring from $5 to $6??
PeterH, the concern is big ticket items, like turbine engines from Pratt and Whitney Canada. The PT6 series turboprops, which power a myriad of new production airplanes all over the world, range from ~$350,000 to ~$1,000,000 new. If the tariffs happen, someone will have to foot the 25% increase on the engine; be it the engine manufacturer (unlikely), airframer (unlikely), or the person who buys the airplane (likely).
We’ll said Kent. We are in the “ME” times, and it seems the only thing anyone cares about anymore is themselves. We live in a country, and you folks in aviation here are part of it. Try thinking of what’s best for the USA and its citizens. Time to tighten your belts.
The aviation alphabets react with the usual knee-jerk. President Trump only has a few means to stop the invasion of illegals and flood of drugs into our country. He’s always a few steps ahead of slow-thinkers. Mexico and Canada have already caved, at least in words, so penalties for them doing nothing in the past are on hold to see if they deliver on their hasty promises, the result of Trump’s bold action. China deserves the tariffs though for many reasons. Our country would be far better off becoming less dependent on good produced in that country ruled by despots.
President Trump’s imposition of tariffs is a negotiation tactic. You can see various countries have already capitulated to the impositions. Do not expect the tariffs to exist for a prolonged period of time.