Tariffs and avoiding them – airlines and OEMs

The Trump tariffs

are in place for the US, and they have begun to impact the airline industry, and also efforts for avoiding them.  Airlines, including Delta and Lufthansa, have indicated that they won’t be paying for tariffs, and OEMs, including Airbus and Boeing, have indicated that they are not going to pay tariffs for their customers either. That is one of the reasons China is returning aircraft after implementing their reaction in response to Trump.  If neither party is going to pay tariffs, they need to be creative.

Delta and Airbus have become creative with the latest delivery of an A350 to Delta.  Delta has accepted delivery of its latest aircraft in Tokyo.  After the flight from Toulouse to Tokyo, the aircraft now qualifies as a used, rather than new, aircraft. 

Since used aircraft are not subject to import taxes, being creative and adding a few hours to an airplane, and putting it into service from a remote station can thus legally avoid taxes.  This may need to include never formally bringing the aircraft into the US by basing it internationally, and flying it only for US international flights, but it does avoid tariffs.