By Karen Freifeld
(Reuters) -The U.S. told GE Aerospace on Thursday that it can restart jet engine shipments to China’s COMAC, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a further sign of de-escalating U.S.-Sino trade tensions that included concessions from Beijing over rare earths.
The United States this week also lifted restrictions on exports to China for chip design software developers and ethane producers, suggesting trade talks between the two countries are moving forward.
License suspensions and new license requirements on the different exports had been issued several weeks ago as part of the ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
GE did not respond to an email request for comment, nor did the Commerce Department, which notified GE it could restart shipments.
Licenses for GE Aerospace affect engines sold to China’s state-owned aerospace manufacturer COMAC, which wants to compete internationally against dominant plane makers Airbus and Boeing.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The restrictions were among the many countermeasures imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in response to China’s export restrictions on rare earths and related magnets in April.
Beijing’s move on rare earths, part of retaliation against Trump’s earlier tariffs this year, has upended supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors. The issue threatened to scupper a bilateral trade deal.
The license suspensions lifted for GE affect LEAP-1C engines to COMAC for its C919 single-aisle aircraft, and GE’s CF34 engine for COMAC’s C909 regional jet, according to the person familiar, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The LEAP 1-C engines are the product of a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran.
The C919 is made in China but many of its components come from overseas.
At least one other aerospace company also had its license suspensions for China lifted on Thursday, according to another person, who declined to identify the company.
Honeywell Aerospace has supplied COMAC’s C919, too, providing an auxiliary power system, wheels and brakes, flight control package, and navigation package. Honeywell did not return a request for comment.
Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, which also supplies components for COMAC, declined to comment on the status of its licenses.
In recent weeks, the U.S. also suspended licenses for nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to China’s power plants. U.S. nuclear equipment suppliers include Westinghouse and Emerson.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Chris Sanders and Daniel Wallis)
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