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| Europe |
| Chirac blocks Pratt & Whitney engine bid to Airbus. |
| 2003-05-06 |
| Edited for brevity Despite submitting a bid nearly 20 percent lower than that of its European rivals, Pratt & Whitney appears to be on the verge of losing a $3.6 billion contract to power a new Airbus military transport, ratcheting up transatlantic tension over fair trade. Germany, the United Kingdom and France - the main partners in Airbus' A400M transport program — are considering a veto of the Pratt engine, according to European press reports. French President Jacques Chirac was widely quoted last week as saying he would accept only a European engine. What, like something that powers the Citroen? This guy just keeps sticking it to us. Airbus has delayed a decision on the contract while a consortium of French, German, British and Spanish engine companies reworks its bid. Unbelievable that we have to put up with this. If Airbus gives in to European pressure, it raises new questions about protectionism in the wake of a European Union's "Star 21" study last year, which urges development of the continent's aerospace industry. U.S. manufacturers have long complained that it's hard to compete against state-subsidized European companies. Paul Nisbet, an analyst with JSA Research in Newport, R.I., said the dispute has been aggravated by disagreements about the war in Iraq - and by the aerospace recession, which hurt the business of aircraft and engine manufacturers globally. "It has been below the surface for a long, long time," Nisbet said. "It is just bubbling up." Ironically, Nisbet said, 80 percent of the work on Pratt's PW800 engine would have been done outside North America because of foreign partnerships arranged by Pratt in an effort to win the bid. Those partners would share in profits from the program. Noel Forgeard, the chief executive of Airbus, told reporters last Wednesday that the Rolls-Royce offer was close to 20 percent higher than Pratt's. On Thursday, Airbus said it had agreed, at the request of several European governments, to give the European companies a chance to revise their bid. To some U.S. observers, Airbus was saying it would do what it could to make sure the Europeans got the work. "It's just another demonstration that Europe is sticking to its plan," aerospace consultant Mark A. Bobbi said. "It demonstrates the solidarity of those countries." The blatant protectionism has infuriated executives at East Hartford-based Pratt and at United Technologies Corp., its corporate parent, according to one source. "They are clearly conflicted. At the moment, the issue is to what degree this is a work program to preserve the European defense industry and to what degree it is to provide a transport alternative and military lift at a reasonable cost," he said. |
| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #2 I had a Renault once. Can you jump start an aircraft in flight? They might want to learn. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-06 21:16:27 |
| #1 Hurry GWB and get the Tax rates in the US reformed...Tax rates in the EU are a total shackel on entrprenuership, they also explain why the EU is doomed. Government controls including interference with contracts and RFQ's are just the tip of the ice berg. France is a withering grape on a vine which just went through a hard winter. This country is on the verge of collapse, its oligarchic establishment amounts to a complete and oppressive hegemony on capital and freedom. Our pushing the envelope with Tax cuts will send our economy spiraling and leave these french trout in a stream they've polluted themselves with their arrogance and failed economic policy. |
| Posted by: AnonymousLy yours 2003-05-06 17:43:02 |