“It will be a classic Chinese game plan,” Reinsch
said. The government in Beijing will “force all
the Chinese airlines to buy theirs. They’ll create
a market. Their planes will get better, and once
they’ve gotten better and cheaper, they’ll start
flooding the global market.”
The U.S. and EU have agreed to work together
to counter Beijing’s efforts to obtain foreign
aviation technology. They plan to take joint
action against unfair trade practices that appear
intended to give Chinese plane manufacturers
unfair advantages.
Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with
Teal Group, suggested that the agreement
will help the U.S. and Europe pivot to present
a united front against China. He noted that
Chinese airlines delayed deliveries from Boeing
and Airbus during the pandemic but continued
to take deliveries from China’s own aircraft
manufacturer, COMAC.
“The Chinese want to close their market and go
their own way, and the biggest export market
on the planet for Airbus and Boeing just goes
away,” Aboulafia said.
The U.S.-EU agreement won’t stop China from
doing that, he predicted, “but at least they can
prevent a scenario where China divides the
West and plays the U.S. and its allies off against
each other.”
In another sign of a trans-Atlantic reconciliation,
the Group of Seven wealthy countries, including
France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom,
agreed this month to a Biden administration
proposal for a 15% global minimum tax on the
earnings of multinational corporations.