The nuances of international trade are even more contentious than the age-old question of “how is lift created?”
The exodus of aircraft manufacturers pre-dates the China acquisitions, There WAS a time when the U.S. was the “Airplane maker for the World”. Airliners, military aircraft, commuter airliners, and General Aviation aircraft were primarily made in the USA. What happened?
Airbus was created by a consortium of foreign governments to directly challenge the U.S. dominance in airliners. Lockheed and Douglas couldn’t compete–only Boeing was strong enough to compete with government funding.
Military aircraft are often constrained by restrictions on exporting high technology–as well as foreign alliances.
Commuter airliners became a thing of the past for most of the U.S. market (remember Beech 99s and 1900’s? Merlin IVs? Twin Otters, Skyvans, and Islanders?). About the only “commuter category” airplanes in the U.S. today are old Cessna 402s or Caravans. The U.S. marketplace demanded better–and the FAA adoption of the “equivalent level of safety” with large airliners (along with the loss of “Essential Air Service” subsidies sealed their fate.
General aviation succumbed to a perfect storm of problems–high interest rates, high fuel costs, high legal costs throughout the industry, greatly increased costs for new aircraft, parts, and accessories–AND fewer pilots, as the WW II generation retired and were not replaced.
The rest of the world was ready to pick up the slack in the aviation industry–China, India, Europe, and Brazil–aided by government help. Unlike private capital, government doesn’t need to show a profit or return on investment for shareholders–they do it to build an industry, employ people, and to import research and technology.
Government, instead of helping, became part of the problem. FAA regulation became so onerous that production was moved outside of the U.S. Consider the case of Diamond Aircraft as an example–it was faster and cheaper for Diamond to certify its aircraft in the European Union–then build a plant in Canada and certify them there–THEN bring them into the U.S based on reciprocity agreements. Canada has “certification centres”–where new aircraft and parts can be certified there, THEN certified in the U.S. based on reciprocity. When it came to LSA’s, the FAA certification process became so onerous that the EU standard was adopted for certification–thus the 1320# gross weight limitation–the EU 600 kg. (Is it any WONDER that the vast majority of LSAs have been produced in Europe?)
Paul’s last paragraph is “dead on” the money–it bears re-reading it. Without changes in capital, ownership, technology exports, regulation, tariffs, and taxation–the U.S. will CONTINUE to cede leadership in the industry. Don’t let it happen AGAIN!