Originally published at: Pilatus Pauses U.S. Business Jet Deliveries Amid Tariff Dispute - AVweb
Swiss plane maker shifts focus to other markets as trade talks continue.
FYI, the PC-12 is a turboprop - hence the big fan on the nose.
The PC-24 is a jet.
Was this an AI-written article, or just a sign that the training wheels are not doing the trick for the humans?
Nice job, Firecrown…you’re well on the way to destroying what was one of aviation’s most respected brands.
Not at all sure about the tariff regs. Also have not heard that the tariffs apply to used equipment. How about Pilatus sell and export the aircraft to a third party. A third party in a tariff friendly country. Perhaps PR. The PR dealer then sell the used PC to USA clients.
Explain to me again how the Trump tariffs are good for the country…
What country is ‘PR’?
Maybe rebalancing the existing tariffs? You did hear the part where they indicated there would be temporary pain didn’t you?
In case you didn’t realize, most if not all of the readers on here are of average or above average intelligence. We all see the same things you do. It is really not necessary to point out every little mistake they make. This is a free publication so it is expected by me to not be perfect. I use this to notify me about things I might want to explore further. I do not use it as a single source.
Perhaps your expectations are too high?
No one believes the pain will be temporary…
Well, the reason for the pause was the tariffs, the article got that much right.
What it left out was that they are accelerating the move to expand operations in the USA, directly attributed to tarriffs.
Link with sources: Google Search
Then I guess you will be really pissed when a human points out that one of those “above average intelligence” readers split an infinitive in his high dudgeon, while defending an error in the topic sentence of the article.
Some might find this a comforting indication that the article (or at least, the first sentence) was written by a fallible human. Others would question what editorial “value-add” the AI brings to the table.
Oh yeah, it saves the publisher money.
Of course, a really clever AI could have inserted it as a MacGuffin to lead the credulous astray. Who knows, anymore …
Let me read between the lines to ensure I understand what was not specifically stated.
Pilatus is building an assembly/manufacturing plant in Sarasota, Florida and is stepping up completion of that facility. My guess is the plant will have employees and most of those employees will be tax paying consumers. My guess is that may be good for our nations’ economy.
The Swiss government is stepping up trade talks with the U.S. The stepping up of trade talks may be for the purpose of lowering the tariffs. The Swiss trade off to lower tariffs may be to allow the US a bigger share of the Swiss market. My guess is this could promote US exports to Switzerland and may be good for our nations’ economy.
I had to make guesses about both of these “between the line” thoughts. I am certainly not as intelligent as most that post comments here so I do expect someone will help me understand how inaccurate my guesses really are. Please let me thank you in advance for your clarifications.
Switzerland has a serious balance of trade problem with the U.S. that needs to be corrected. Sounds like they are getting the message. Pilatus should look at how its fellow Swiss companies have expanded globally by producing overseas. For instance Buehler, a leading producer of precision food processing equipment, has major manufacturing facilities in Minnesota and North Carolina. ABB has its North American R&D center in North Carolina, factories in many states, especially for electric motors in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the former Baldor motors. HondaJet has its HQ also here in North Carolina, not in Japan. BMW’s largest factory is in South Carolina, not Bavaria. It exports 70% of the US production abroad, including to Germany. Everyone wins.
POTUS Donald Trump ha a fixed-pie mentality like a Marxist, instead of win-win.
Freedom of trade allows different people to do what they can do best.
Offshoring low-skill labour frees American workers to do higher value work. Some will need to upgrade or change their skills, which they may not like after 25 years in a particular high-paying job.
There are concerns of security but they should be addressed as such.
Food is a particular category, Canola grows better in Canada than the US but oranges don’t. 
Horror shows of past American protectionism include the Chicken Tax. The US put a tariff on small pickup trucks, which had effects:
- raised costs of utility transportation for Americans
- motivated Japanese makers to go upscale, into 4-door station wagons for example
- reverse-motivated the Detroit Three to not improve
- European countries put a tariff on chicken from the US, thus reduced exports and deprived Europeans of lower cost food.
Does trade have to be equal between countries?
If Switzerland has a surplus with another country and that country exports to the US, can it balance in total?
Also, work like software and inventing should be considered in the total question. For example, the very good medicine Metformin for diabetes was invented in Europe.
Yes and all that happened before Trump became president and started his tariff fiasco. Tariffs are designed to keep countries from “dumping” products on the market, not to force countries to manufacture all their products here. There is a global economy with a global supply chain. You punish the outliers with tariffs, not our neighbors and allies.
No, trade does not have to be equal between countries, states or even counties. Real money is fungible. Every net dollar earned at Pilatus can only be spent on items sold in dollars, so in principle at least, all net dollars come back to the US. However, not all countries play by the same rules, with many manipulating currencies, regulations barring certain imports, and otherwise making it tough for U.S. companies to export to them. The Communist Chinese are the experts at this, but many others like Japan have done this for decades. It is good business however to open production facilities near one’s customer base. Many Swiss companies have done this, with great success. One German company I know, Ziehl-Abegg, has even shifted its future development center and large production facility from Germany to North Carolina, as they have so many customers here and there are so many advantages, for instance fewer regulation, lower cost of land and power, and essentially no unions. Pilatus would be wise to do the same.
With all respect, U.S. tariffs on foreign imports have been far below those of other countries for many decades. Even his reciprocal tariffs are in general still quite a bit lower than prevailing tariffs from these countries on our exports to them. If tariffs were indeed so bad, why do other countries have higher tariffs on US imports? We should, in fact, replace income tax - which punishes the successful - with tariffs. It is fairly clear now that these new tariffs are not increasing prices, inflation continues to drop along with prices we pay. Much to the chagrin of the minority of Americans opposing Trump’s bold policies. This all ends well for those who work in America.
There were no tariffs on aircraft and aircraft parts imported and exported between the US and Switzerland until Trump instituted his tariffs. In fact aviation is a net positive for the US, we export way more than we import. Swiss Airlines has purchased 12 B777-300s. The Swiss military is ordering F35 fighters from Lockheed. But we should still punish the Swiss for selling the Pilatus, that has many US made components, in this country. Last year, Pilatus announced that they were investing 40 million dollars to built a facility in Sarasota to serve as a sales and service center, maintenance area and possibly an assembly area. They made this investment while Biden was still president and there were no tariffs to influence their decisions. They made a business decision that benefits their customers, their company and both countries.In a worldwide economy that is how it should work.
Not so sure about that. The Swiss did wisely abolish tariffs on industrial imports, in 2024. But before that, not sure what they did on aerospace parts. Fact remains, many other Swiss companies set up manufacturing facilities in the US decades ago. If Pilatus were to announce an acceleration of plans for Sarasota, they would probably have a better chance in negotiations. The tariffs on Switzerland are far more than targeted at one company, Pilatus, however. The Swiss enjoy a much higher standard of living than Americans, and there are many reasons for this. Trade balance sure helps them.