ASA Defends Commercial Aviation in Government Investigation

The U.S. government has opened an investigation into commercial aircraft, commercial engines, and parts for commercial aircraft and engines. Investigations like this one typically are precursors to tariffs and other import restrictions. This week, ASA filed formal comments in response to the government investigation.

The investigation – known as a “232 investigation” based on the section number from the 1962 trade law – examines whether commercial aviation imports could have an adverse effect on national security. The investigation is also empowered to examine whether imports are having a significant effect on the economy: such as by causing significant U.S. unemployment.

The ASA comments highlighted important methodology factors like ensuring that exports from distributor are considered when weighing the export-import balance. This is an important note because typically commercial aircraft exports are calculated based on those accomplished by manufacturers. NAICS codes are the basis for tracking this information and the way that NAICS codes are assembled, there are commercial aerospace manufacturers NAICS codes, but commercial aircraft parts distributors are lumped in with distributors of rail and maritime parts, and there is no easy way to separate that export data. As a consequence, their export data is often ignored. This is important because one of the factors that the 232 investigation is examining is the balance between imports and exports of commercial aviation products and parts.

ASA also provided an analysis of the U.S. obligations under various statutes and international agreements (including the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft). ASA concluded from this that the 232 investigation would not be able to recommend tariffs because they would violate these U.S. obligations.