How China-US tensions are affecting American aircraft exports to the world’s No 2 economy

Last year, US exports of aircraft, engines and parts to China were worth US$5.53 billion, less than a third of the record US$18.22 billion shipped in 2018

Observers have attributed the plunge in US aviation exports to ‘geopolitical differences’ and development of China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet

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China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft parked at Urumqi airport Xinjiang region. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00am, 5 Apr 2023Updated: 2:38am, 5 Apr 2023

Deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington have constrained US exports of aircraft to China, analysts said, with decoupling set to cause a further decline in aviation trade in the future.

China and the United States have been locked into a bitter trade battle since 2018 and the two countries are competing intensely in technology and defence, as well as for international influence.

“I do not see decoupling happening in the short term due to the close link between China and the rest of the world. But in the long term, decoupling is a trend that will continue,” said Henry Gao, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, and a long-time researcher of international trade issues.

In 2022, US exports of aircraft, engines and parts to China, its largest export market, were worth US$5.53 billion, a small rise from US$4.71 billion in 2021, but less than a third of the record US$18.22 billion shipped in 2018, according to data from the United Nations COMTRADE Database.

As the C919 comes online, demand for Boeing jets is likely to decline further

Stephen Olson

The US-based Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE) attributed the plunge of US aviation exports to China, once a big buyer of Boeing jets, to “geopolitical differences”.