The Trump administration is reportedly fearful China may cut into the global jet-engine market. GE could pay the price.


General Electric could face some consequences from the U.S.-China trade war, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Trump administration is considering halting deliveries of jet engines co-produced by the American manufacturer for the development of a Chinese jetliner which is reportedly years behind schedule, a person familiar with the discussions said. The White House's fear is tied to broader efforts to protect American intellectual property from Beijing — Washington reportedly believes China could eventually reverse-engineer the engines, break into the global engine-market, and compete with U.S. business interests.
Unsurprisingly, GE is arguing against the proposal. On the one hand, the company says reverse-engineering the highly advanced techniques is a lot harder than the Trump administration seems to think. But, even if China was able to pull that off, they could have already started the process since the engines have been in the country for years. So, with that in mind, GE doesn't think he makes a whole lot of sense to cease the operations now.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Administration officials are supposed to discuss the situation at a meeting this week. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
'A symbol of the faceless corporate desire'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Say farewell to summer at these underrated US lakes
The Week Recommends Have one last blast
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandate
Talking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Is Trump's tariffs plan working?
Today's Big Question Trump has touted 'victories', but inflation is the 'elephant in the room'
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits