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Airways and a few of their unions are asking the Biden administration to cease approving any extra flights between the US and China due to what they name “anti-competitive” insurance policies that China imposes on US carriers.
The airways and unions mentioned on Thursday that China closed its market to US carriers on the outbreak of the pandemic and imposed guidelines that also have an effect on American operations and airline crews.
“These actions demonstrated the clear want for the US authorities to ascertain a coverage that protects US aviation employees, trade and air vacationers,” they mentioned in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The letter was signed by the CEO of the Airways for America commerce group and the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Affiliation, the Allied Pilots Affiliation, which represents crews at American Airways, and the Affiliation of Flight Attendants.
The variety of flights between China and the US has been rising, though it stays far under pre-pandemic ranges. The Biden administration elevated the variety of spherical journeys that Chinese language airways could make from 35 to 50 per week, beginning March 31, after China’s aviation authority promised to hunt a rise in flights by US carriers.
The US airways mentioned Chinese language airways get a bonus by flying shorter routes by Russian airspace, which has been off-limits to US carriers since Russia invaded Ukraine greater than two years in the past. They mentioned Chinese language airways additionally get “sure protections” from China’s authorities as a result of they’re state-owned.
The US trade teams mentioned of their letter that the ultimate entry to China’s aviation market, American carriers will lose flights to Chinese language airways.
Earlier this week Treasury Secretary mentioned the Biden administration will push China to alter an industrial coverage that poses a menace to US jobs. Janet Yellen mentioned on Monday after wrapping up 4 days of talks with Chinese language officers.
She additionally mentioned in Beijing they’d “troublesome conversations” about nationwide safety, together with American issues that Chinese language firms are supporting Russia in its struggle in Ukraine.
However the focus of her journey was industrial coverage, and what the US and Europe describe as manufacturing overcapacity in China. Rich nations concern a wave of low-priced Chinese language exports that can overwhelm factories at dwelling. Yellen cited the manufacturing of electrical autos and their batteries in addition to photo voltaic power tools — sectors that the U.S. administration is attempting to advertise domestically — as areas the place Chinese language authorities subsidies have pushed speedy enlargement of manufacturing.
“China is now just too massive for the remainder of the world to soak up this monumental capability. Actions taken by the PRC in the present day can shift world costs,” she mentioned, utilizing the acronym for China’s official title, the Folks’s Republic of China. “And when the worldwide market is flooded by artificially low cost Chinese language merchandise, the viability of American and different international companies is put into query.”
