Commentary: There is a bigger threat to US trade than Chinese chips

Commentary: There is a bigger threat to US trade than Chinese chips

Opposition IN AEROSPACE

In each of the previous three decades, selling of aircraft, including related parts and equipment, made up the majority of imports to China. Those times are long gone. & nbsp, Over the past three years, that ratio has decreased to just 3.4 % from its previous level of 18.8 % in the 1990s and 9.5 % from the decade to 2019.

Export peaked in 2018 and have since decreased by two-thirds on an annual schedule. Boeing’s selling to China peaked in that same year before declining by a comparable number.

The COVID-19 pandemic is partially to blame for this drop, but COMAC started working on the C919 more than ten years ago, when flights were halted and airlines were forced to garden planes in the plain.

Boeing’s 737Max suffered fatal collapses and nbsp in 2018 and 2019, which led Beijing to meet regulators around the world in outlawing the aircraft. This time, service airlines on those models resumed in China, with Air China announcing that 12 Max aircraft will be delivered there in 2023 and beyond.

That temporary raise didn’t last. There is little chance of going back, as evidenced by various & nbsp, instances of spying, and an increasingly violent trade war. To build the C919, COMAC consulted outside partners while utilizing engines from General Electric and components from all over the world. The organization and Canada’s Bombardier entered into a cooperation agreement in 2011, and after that agreement included the sharing of cockpit technology and designs. & nbsp,

Beijing has been very busy acquiring & nbsp, know-how through the back door, despite the fact that China’s aerospace sector and NBP have attempted to procure technology via joint ventures, licensing agreements, and the front door.

A Chinese nationwide and nbsp Air Force contractor assisted the People’s Liberation Army in obtaining more than 630, 000 documents pertaining to the Boeing C – 17 Cargo plane in two separate cases, one of which was uncovered by the FBI in 2017 and involved Chinese intelligence agents who directed a project to take engine technology from GE Aviation, and the other.

Years may pass before the international intelligence community can determine how much of the C919 or the upcoming twin-aisle CR929 was constructed using stolen technologies.

There are a lot of parallels between the aircraft and semiconductor industries. Both have great entry barriers, heavily rely on technological advancement, and grant their countries sizable national security advantages. However, there is one significant distinction that makes US preservation of its power even more crucial.