Reps. Pat Harrigan of North Carolina and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania introduced legislation Thursday that would increase federal oversight of investments in U.S. general aviation companies by entities connected to designated countries of concern.
The General Aviation Protection Act, designated H.R. 9707, cites more than 20 acquisitions, investments or joint ventures involving U.S. aircraft manufacturers, avionics companies, engine producers and training organizations since 2005. The sponsors pointed to Cirrus Aircraft, which has been controlled by China’s state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China through CAIGA since 2011.
Mandatory Federal Reviews
The bill would require filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for qualifying purchases of covered aviation businesses. Those companies would include certain FAA production-certificate holders, avionics and flight-control developers, certificate holders for helicopters or light rotorcraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less, and qualifying Part 141 schools and Part 142 training centers located within 50 nautical miles of a military installation.
“For two decades, Chinese entities have been quietly buying up American aviation companies, absorbing our engineers, our manufacturing know-how, and our FAA certifications the whole time, and Washington never built a system to catch it,” Harrigan said in a statement. “This bill is that system.”
Existing Ownership And Federal Funding
The legislation would also direct the federal government to review previously completed acquisitions involving covered foreign-controlled companies and could result in recommendations for divestiture. Additional provisions call for audits of avionics, flight-control and engine-control systems, restrictions on certain federal grants, loans and contracts, and disclosure of qualifying foreign ownership in FAA production-certificate filings and applications for federal assistance.
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