China’s C919 faces new hurdle after US-Europe aviation deal, but accord unlikely to be a ‘game changer’
- After a 17-year dispute over aircraft subsidies, the US and EU announce a five-year suspension of tariffs and agree to focus on China’s aircraft industry
- While the agreement poses a fresh challenge to China’s C919 passenger plane, analysts say there may be limitations on what can actually be achieved
China’s efforts to carve out global market share for its narrow body C919 passenger plane face a fresh hurdle after the United States and the European Union (EU) agreed to a truce in their near 17-year conflict over aircraft subsidies, analysts say.
The US and EU announced on Tuesday a five-year suspension of tariffs and plan to establish a working group to address “non-market practices” in other countries, most notably China.
“This was an explicitly political compromise, framed very much in the context of China’s generally growing threat, and more specifically in the context of subsidised aircraft production as China nears completion of its own, subsidised, production,” said Peter Harbison, chairman emeritus at the CAPA Centre for Aviation.
An agreement for the US and EU to share information or conduct joint analysis will not be a game changer
However, even acknowledging the new challenge facing China’s aircraft industry, Harbison added it was “unlikely the C919 could take a large market share outside its own sphere of influence”.