The head of the world’s largest aircraft leasing company has called on US President Donald Trump to renegotiate and expand a decades-old duty-free trade agreement for the aircraft industry, aiming to bring major economies like China and India into the fold.
Aengus Kelly, chief executive of Dublin-based AerCap, said the current trade tensions offer an opportunity to improve the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, which bans tariffs on jetliners but has only 33 signatories.
Kelly told Reuters: “It would be a fantastic win for the president if he could enhance and significantly improve the 1979 aerospace treaty.
“Countries like India and China are not in it – that needs to change.”
Kelly’s comments mark a shift in strategy for the aerospace sector, which has largely focused on lobbying for exemptions to tariffs introduced by Trump and avoiding retaliatory measures.
Instead, Kelly is advocating for a broader deal, which he has dubbed a potential “Trump trade accord” for aviation.
“If the president could convince other countries to join this zero-for-zero tariff agreement, that’ll be an enormous win for high-tech manufacturing and engineering jobs in the United States,” he added.
The 1979 pact, which came into effect in 1980, eliminated tariffs on aircraft and parts and remains one of the few surviving trade agreements from an earlier round of negotiations prior to the World Trade Organisation’s creation in 1995.
A White House spokesperson, Kush Desai, confirmed the administration is in regular contact with industry groups about trade policy, but said: “The only special interest guiding President Trump’s decision-making is the best interest of the American people.”
A coalition of aerospace firms is expected to meet US Commerce Department officials later on Wednesday to further discuss trade concerns.
The aviation sector, which has long operated under a tariff-free regime, faces uncertainty as global trade tensions and protectionist policies threaten to upend traditional supply chains.
