Airbus says US tariffs would be 'lose-lose' for airline industry
Airbus, the world's largest commercial airplane maker, said Thursday that it was preparing for the possibility of new U.S. tariffs and would be able to «adapt accordingly,» including passing on higher costs to its American airline customers.
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In a wide-ranging media conference at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, the company's CEO Guillaume Faury also stepped up calls for European companies and governments to increase collaboration on defense at a time when the United States appears to be retreating from its security role in Europe.
President Donald Trump's rapid pivots on long-standing U.S. trade and security policy have increased uncertainty for businesses around the world, and have sent policymakers scrambling to figure out how to adjust. Last week, he set in motion a plan for so-called reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners, as he broadens the scope of his unfolding trade war.
Airbus is trying to anticipate what will happen, Faury said at the briefing. «We are like others facing uncertainty when it comes to tariffs,» he said.
On Thursday, Airbus, the world's biggest aerospace and defense producer and the main rival to Boeing, confirmed its continued dominance in the civil aviation market: It reported a 12% surge in net profit in 2024, to 4.2 billion euros ($4.4 billion), and the delivery of 766 commercial jets to airlines around