Commerce Nominee Backs Pact on Tariff-Fee Trade in Civil Aircraft
Paul Dabbar, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be deputy commerce secretary, said May 1 that he would support the 1979 international Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, which calls for eliminating tariffs on civil aircraft, engines, flight simulators and related parts.
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“Clearly, in addition to agriculture, aerospace and defense is a comparative advantage industry for this country, and the net trade benefit positive should continue to expand in that sector for us,” Dabbar testified before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Dabbar, a former Energy Department official, made his comments in response to questioning by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who said the civil aircraft pact has helped fuel his state's aviation exports. Retaliatory measures by other countries in response to the Trump administration’s use of tariffs has raised questions about the future of U.S. aviation exports.
China’s response to the U.S. tariffs has included reportedly blocking deliveries of Boeing airliners. Spirit AeroSystems, which is based in Moran's state, is a major supplier to Boeing.