GE Aerospace CEO Advocates for ‘Tariff-Free’ Status for the Industry

GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp joined other high-level aviation executives in advocating for a tariff-free status for the industry. He cited the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement in support of his stance when he recently met with President Trump. The zero-duty status to date has led to a $75 billion annual trade surplus for U.S. aerospace companies, Culp said in a Reuters interview.

GE partners with French company Safran on the Leap 1 airline engine, which has led to some uncertainty over the economic outlook with a tariff trade war looming. The tariff-free status for aerospace “has gone very well for us so far here in 2025,” Culp told Reuters, though GE has been challenged by lingering supply chain issues dating back to the Covid pandemic, and the risk of tariff-related supply chain problems could cost GE Aerospace more than $500 million this year, Reuters wrote.

Culp said tariff-related uncertainty over air travel (and the resulting impact on new-aircraft deliveries) also plays a role in his asserting that a tariff-free policy for aerospace “would be good for the country.”