Iata ‘watching very carefully’ for profiteering in tariff-exempt aerospace industry

[SINGAPORE] The International Air Transport Association (Iata) is on the lookout for players in the aerospace industry attempting to profiteer by using trade tariffs to justify price hikes.

The industry has not been subjected to tariffs because of an agreement in 1979, Iata director-general Willie Walsh noted at a media roundtable on Wednesday (Jul 16).

Some engines and airframe manufacturers face tariffs when they import raw materials for their production, he said, but they can recover such taxes when they export. To them, it is a cash flow rather than a cost or profitability issue.