Commercial Aircraft: Section 232 Executive Order

Research evidence excerpt

Commercial Aircraft: Section 232 Executive Order

10 July 2026

Global Aerospace & Defense

Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order, launching a Section 232 Douglas S. Harned, Ph.D.

+1 917 344 8430 investigation to determine whether imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and related

douglas.harned@bernsteinsg.com parts affect U.S. national security. Section 232 is a trade-law mechanism that allows the

U.S. government to examine whether reliance on foreign imports could threaten national

Adrien Rabier security.

+44 20 7676 6820

adrien.rabier@bernsteinsg.com

According to the executive order, the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, has

Nestor Wester determined that having foreign suppliers of aircraft, aircraft engines, and components

+44 20 7676 7067 exposes U.S. based aircraft to performance risks and threatens the industrial success of the

nestor.wester@bernsteinsg.com U.S. aircraft industry. A 180-day investigation will be conducted to determine what steps

should be taken.

Cyriaque Blanchet

+44 20 7676 7342

cyriaque.blanchet@bernsteinsg.com While the Commerce secretary can point to isolated issues around the performance of

foreign components, one could do the same for U.S. manufacturers. We do not believe any

Specialist Sales participants in the commercial aircraft industry in the U.S., Europe or elsewhere support this

order. The idea of a trade war, which is what a ruling could potentially put in place would be

Steve Song negative for all. The industry is a global one that has thrived by having no barriers to trade. +1 917 344 8401

steve.song@bernsteinsg.com Aircraft and engines integrate components from global sources. There is no practical way

to change that, even if one believed it was a good idea (it is not). Separately, the industry