Read other 2006
   Press Releases

AEROSPACE INDUSTRY REQUESTS BETTER ACCESS TO GLOBAL MARKETPLACE BEFORE CHINA SECURITY REVIEW

August 3, 2001-WASHINGTON, D.C. At a public hearing held by the U.S.-China Security Review Commission, AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said that opening the doors to trade with China will offer an enormous potential market for the U.S. aerospace industry--second only to the U.S. "Over the next 20 years, our manufacturers forecast that China, including Hong Kong and Macau, will need jetliners worth about $144 billion, " Douglass said, adding that communications satellite and equipment purchases by China are estimated to reach at least $3 billion over the next ten years.

Douglass also focused on the impediments raised by the U.S. government due to "allegations that rocket technology might have been transferred to the Chinese as part of a post-launch investigation" in the mid-1990s. Congress' response in 1999 to transfer communications satellites to the munitions list had negative impacts on U.S. economic and security interests, he said. By not focusing on China but treating all trade in satellites with all nations as defense transactions, trade with our European allies has been disrupted. The lengthy period of time for these license reviews has caused Europeans to design out American components, with the resulting drop in U.S. satellite and component exports from 75 percent of the global market to 45 percent in a period of only 2 years. He added that the practice of denying American manufacturing participation in satellite sales and launches in China has not only hurt our aerospace business, but has been directly detrimental to U.S. national security interests.

"Our involvement with Chinese launches provided the U.S. government an extraordinary opportunity to evaluate Chinese rocket technology capabilities," he said. "Clearly, when the Europeans sell a satellite to China and launch it on a Chinese launcher, we are neither in control of what technology is transferred, nor do we gain insight as to current Chinese rocket capabilities."

He added that the barriers to trade put up by China are now being dismantled with their entry into the World Trade Organization. "Our government now needs to look at changing outdated policies so that we do not lose business to our competitors overseas, without any gain for foreign policy or security interests."

Douglass presented the aerospace industry's testimony at the second public hearing of the commission, created to study the economic and security implications of the bilateral economic relationship between the United States and China and make recommendations in an annual report to Congress.

For a copy of the testimony, see AIA's Web site at www.aia-aerospace.org

Read Testimony

P.A. Rel 2001-20

08.02.01

-AIA-

Contact: Matt Grimison, AIA
703-358-1076
matt.grimison@aia-aerospace.org