Arlington, Va. – The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) today released aerospace and defense industry priorities for the 2027 National Trade Estimate report, which is issued annually by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). AIA’s 2027 priorities focus on maintaining and advancing a reciprocal international trade environment for aerospace and defense products.
“Aerospace and defense is America’s leading manufacturing export industry and remains one of the strongest parts of our economy,” said AIA Vice President of International Affairs Dak Hardwick. “Our goal is simple: preserve a trade environment that expands exports and allows U.S. manufacturers to compete and win around the world.”
AIA’s 2027 trade priorities include:
- Strengthen international aerospace trade agreements: Maintain reciprocal trade access for civil aerospace products and critical inputs, continue implementing reciprocal trade agreements, and provide certainty around the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to strengthen supply chains and U.S. competitiveness.
- Build secure, resilient critical mineral supply chains: Work with trusted international partners to diversify critical mineral supplies, expand domestic mining and processing capacity, and counter China’s disruptive use of export restrictions.
- Challenge market-distorting trade practices: Address subsidies, state-backed investment, procurement preferences, technology transfer pressures and other non-market practices that put U.S. manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.
- Ensure U.S. manufacturers receive fair consideration in allied and partner defense procurement: Push back against localization restrictions and other procurement policies that disadvantage U.S. aerospace and defense companies, while improving opportunities for American companies to compete in growing allied defense markets, many of which participate in the U.S. defense supply chain.
- Combat non-tariff trade barriers: Encourage USTR to investigate potentially misleading “ITAR-free” marketing that disadvantages U.S. manufacturers and consider appropriate trade actions in response.
- Advance U.S. export competitiveness: Reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank and maintain programs that help American aerospace and defense manufacturers compete against foreign companies backed by international export-credit agencies.
- Pair trade policy with investment in U.S. manufacturing capacity: Support onshoring through targeted incentives, regulatory streamlining, workforce investment, and budget stability that expand domestic production capacity and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.
Read the full letter here.
Background:
The aerospace and defense industry generated $500 billion in economic value last year — 1.6 percent of U.S. GDP — and supported more than 2.1 million American jobs. These are high-skill, high-wage roles, with average pay 40 percent above the national average, underscoring the value of the aerospace and defense workforce.
Learn more about our industry’s impact here.
2026 Industry Facts and Figures Highlights for Trade:
- U.S. aerospace and defense exports reached $172.7 billion in 2025 — a 25 percent year-over-year increase — signaling strong and accelerating global demand for American aerospace and defense products.
- The industry recorded a $109.2 billion trade surplus, maintaining the largest positive trade balance of any U.S. manufacturing sector and reinforcing its role as a key driver of American competitiveness around the globe.
- The United States’ top export destinations include China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. Top import partners include Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Mexico.
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