U.S. slows aircraft-parts licensing to gain leverage over China

On October 1, 2026, Reuters reported that the U.S. Commerce Department had slowed export licensing for aircraft parts destined for China and was considering rules that could restrict items including landing gear and aviation hydraulic fluid. The report says officials were also limiting licensed parts for state-owned COMAC to prevent stockpiling, while China sought multiyear spares for 200 Boeing aircraft; the agencies and Chinese embassy did not comment. Aerospace clients should not treat a formally open licensing channel as an assurance of timing or volume, and contracts should allocate delay, substitution and regulatory-change risk accordingly. The broader implication is that export administration is becoming a negotiating instrument inside trade talks, requiring legal teams to monitor agency practice as closely as published control lists.