Aerospace firms gird for protectionism under Trump, Airbus CEO says

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -European aerospace companies are bracing for "very strong" protectionism in the United States under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, the head of planemaker Airbus said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters as head of France's GIFAS aerospace industry association, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury also said supply chains had yet to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Airbus is expected to announce later on Thursday that it made 766 deliveries in 2024, up 4% from the previous year, coupled with a slowdown in orders from record highs in 2023.

The industry faces a cocktail of strong aerospace and defence demand, except in the European space sector, combined with supply chain difficulties, geopolitical tensions and growing competition from India and elsewhere, Faury said.

Days ahead of Trump's inauguration, the European industry is preparing for a shift to protectionism that has yet to be defined but is likely to be pronounced, Faury said.

Trump has threatened tariffs on foreign goods as part of an economic agenda to "put America first".

Europe's aerospace sector is benefiting from strong demand for commercial jets and increased defence spending, while facing overcapacity and thousands of job cuts in satellites.

Faury said European defence companies face what he described as unjustifiable shortages of financing from the banking sector, given the war in Ukraine.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the sector has said defence should represent a greater percentage of portfolios, while sustainable investors in Europe have remained opposed.

Holding the rotating presidency of France's aerospace lobby, Faury ticked off requests to the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who took office last month, including maintaining support for research on cutting emissions and easing corporate charges.

The former auto executive said the history of the French car industry demonstrated it was possible to tumble from a strong export surplus in 2000 to a significant deficit.

"Let's not repeat in aviation what happened in other sectors," he told a news conference.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Jason Neely and Barbara Lewis)

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