By Tim Hepher
PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus on Wednesday highlighted the impact of rising trade tensions after Europe followed the United States in raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Asked for comment on a European Commission decision to impose additional duties of up to 38.1%, a spokesman for the world’s largest plane maker did not comment directly on the measure but said trade tensions pose a challenge for global companies.
“We are seeing rising trade tensions around the world and they are testing the resilience of global companies like Airbus,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“We sell to customers all over the world. Trade tariffs increase complexity and costs for our supply chain, Airbus and for our customers,” the statement said.
Airbus has recently been in talks with China over a large potential aircraft order, Reuters reported in April.
Ahead of the EU announcement, two people familiar with the matter said the two sides had explored a potentially historic deal for as many as 600-750 aircraft.
But analysts note that large aircraft orders from China’s state purchasing agency often involve a combination of new business and repeated announcements, and that the timing of such announcements reflects the ebb and flow of trade ties.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian previously said the EU’s move would damage economic cooperation between China and the EU.
A third industry source said after the EU announcement that an impending sale to China appears increasingly ambitious amid the trade war and political uncertainty in Europe.
Airbus said it never comments on aircraft negotiations.
China’s state purchasing agency CASC could not immediately be reached outside business hours in Beijing.
Bloomberg News reported last week that Airbus was discussing an order for 100 widebody planes from China.
China has historically split its import needs roughly between Airbus and its US rival Boeing (NYSE:), but Chinese orders for Boeing aircraft have been scarce in recent years – a period that has coincided with turbulence in China-US relations.
