Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group.&nbsp;He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion,&nbsp;the&nbsp;student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot&nbsp;magazine, he joined&nbsp;AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.

Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

Embraer is waging a multi-pronged effort to eliminate U.S. tariffs on aviation/aerospace goods made in Brazil, company CEO Francisco Gomes Neto said today during a second-quarter earnings call. “Our focus is to restore aerospace back to zero tariffs,” he said, noting President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on civil aircraft and components and 50% tariff on most other Brazilian products. Embraer took a $20 million hit for tariffs on its commercial and executive jets in the quarter and expects another $45 million blow in the second half should these levies remain on Brazil’s aerospace industry, he added.
According to Neto, Embraer is working with both Brazil and U.S. government trade negotiators to exempt aerospace from the new tariffs, as it had been since 1980 under the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft. He also pointed out similar zero-tariff deals for aerospace recently negotiated between the U.S. and the UK, EU, Mexico, and Canada. “We are positive of a good resolution on tariffs,” Neto predicted.
His pitch to U.S. negotiators includes $500 million of planned investments in its business jet production plant in Melbourne, Florida; commercial MRO facility in Dallas; and a potential KC-390 production line in the U.S. if the military twinjet is purchased by the U.S. Air Force as an “agile combat asset.” Of that total, $90 million is earmarked for the Melbourne facility to expand Phenom 100EX and 300E production and enlarge the flight prep area for the Praetor 500 and 600, as well as add a paint booth that can accommodate both Phenoms and Praetors.
Neto is also playing up to U.S. negotiators that, because its aircraft have about 40% U.S. content, Embraer will have an $8 billion trade surplus in the U.S.’s favor over the next five years. Because U.S. content is not tariffed, Embraer has also been able to mitigate the 50% levies down to about 10% in practical terms.
“We are emphasizing ‘economic robustness’ to U.S. negotiators,” he said. Neto added that continued tariffs on Embraer will eventually cause it to pull back on investments in the U.S. and could result in fewer orders for U.S. content as aircraft sales are affected by the levies. “So the tariffs will also negatively affect the U.S. in the long run,” he concluded.
Trump has explicitly tied the high tariff imposed on Brazil since August 1 to his personal opposition to the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

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In this article

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Phenom 300/300E

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