Airbus to acquire some Spirit AeroSystems assets: Airbus has inked an agreement with leading parts provider Spirit AeroSystems to acquire industrial assets for its commercial aircraft programs, according to a statement. The move comes as Airbus seeks to strengthen the stability of supply for its commercial aircraft production.

Airbus will take ownership of the following assets:

  • A350 fuselage sections production facilities at the sites of Kinston in North Carolina in the US and St. Nazaire in France;
  • A321 and A220 components site at Casablanca in Morocco;
  • A220 pylons production site in Wichita, Kansas in the US;
  • A site making A320 and A350 wing components in Prestwich, Scotland;
  • A220 wings and mid-fuselage site in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A slight change in plans: Spirit will now compensate Airbus with USD 439 mn — subject to certain adjustments. The amount is an adjustment to a revised scope of an agreement that was signed between Airbus and Spirit back in July 2024. Spirit also intends to sell the site of Subang, Malaysia to a third-party owner. The closing of the transaction is scheduled for 3Q 2025, with regulatory and customary approvals still pending.

ICYMI- Spirit received up to USD 350 mn from Boeing and up to USD 107 mn from Airbus in advance payments back in November to help it stay afloat as it continued to burn through cash after four consecutive years of losses.

Boeing’s been eyeing full acquisition: Spirit’s shareholders approved a Boeing purchase agreement back in February, clearing the path for Boeing to fully acquire AeroSystems. The acquisition is expected to close the USD 4.7 bn transaction by mid-2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

Foreign firms in China reel from trade war: Foreign manufacturers in China are getting slapped with double tariffs — up to 125% to import components and 145% to export secondary and final products to the US, the Financial Times reports. “Foreign firms are really being squeezed in the Chinese market…if they import, they pay the Chinese tariffs. When they export back to the US, they pay the US tariffs…they are hit twice,” director of the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong Heiwai Tang told the outlet.

Who’s bearing the brunt? Major US firms like Apple and Tesla and several small-scale producers rely on China as a manufacturing hub. China has so far allowed a tariff exemption if the final product is exported back to the US within a specific time frame, but the country did not grant the exemption if the goods are exported to countries other than the US.

Is it too far gone? Although foreign companies account for one-third of China’s total trade, their trade share in the country has fallen from 55% of its total trade in 2008 to 29.6% in 2024, which comes on the back of a strict policy of industrial self-reliance fostered over the years.

Tags: