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Donald Trump risks triggering a “lose-lose” scenario for the West if he imposes tariffs on European planes, the boss of Airbus has said.
Guillaume Faury warned that US manufacturers, airlines and consumers will suffer unless the president backs away from a trade war. Airbus is the top export client for the US aerospace industry, he said, meaning engine suppliers such as General Electric and Pratt & Whitney would suffer.
Mr Faury added that carriers would also suffer from a rise in the price of aircraft, which would most likely lead to higher ticket prices, he said.
He said: “It is really an integrated ecosystem across the North Atlantic and we believe tariffs in this industry would be lose-lose.”
Mr Faury appealed to Mr Trump to take into account Airbus’s close relationship with the US, which includes a jet production line in Alabama, arguing it has a level of interconnectedness “like few other companies”.
He said: “We believe we should not be directly impacted by tariffs. We are buying a lot from the US, we are selling to the US, we manufacture, we assemble and we develop in the US.”
Airbus is nevertheless crunching numbers on the impact of tariffs and how it might respond to them should the US president include aviation in a trade war with Brussels.
He said: “It’s something we are looking at very seriously. We are reviewing scenarios and reviewing our ability to adapt.
“We have very strong demand outside of the US and a lot of production capabilities in Europe and outside Europe that we could use to serve export customers.”
Mr Faury added: “We are very closely monitoring with our US airline customers what this would mean for them. Obviously there would be an increase of cost and most probably price to the airlines and therefore to the end customers in the US.”
Airbus would need to review its financial outlook in the event of tariffs being imposed, he said, after predicting adjusted profit will increase to €7bn (£5.8bn) this year.
The figure fell to €5.4bn in 2024, driven lower by supply chain issues and restructuring costs in its defence and space arm.
Asked about a recent spate of air crashes and the potential impact of Mr Trump’s budget cuts on the Federal Aviation Administration, he said safety was rightly in the spotlight.
Mr Faury said: “When there are significant changes or an unstable situation, these are additional risks that needs to be addressed, and we want to make sure aviation remains safe.”
Airbus is in talks about merging its space activities with those of French firm Thales Group and Leonardo of Spain in order to create a major European satellite manufacturer capable of competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink.