(Bloomberg) -- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told senators Wednesday that he expects to complete an analysis and set the standard for tariffs on aircraft parts by the end of the month.
“We’re going to discuss it with the president,” he said at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing. “We’ll discuss the analysis and we’ll take due consideration on what to do.”
Lutnick has been one of the architects of President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. The administration continued to increase the tariff barriers by raising steel and aluminum rates to 50% from 25% on Wednesday in a move called necessary to protect national security.
The Commerce Department last month opened an investigation that could provide a basis for tariffs on commercial aircraft, jet engines and airplane components. The probe is examining whether imports of those goods pose a national security threat under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the same authority that the Trump administration has used to apply new taxes on imported automobiles, vehicle parts and metals.
New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen said the lead times for parts for one aerospace company in her home state has grown from 20 weeks to 2.5 years, raising concerns about the national security implications of the delays.
Lutnick said the administration consulted with the Defense Department and questioned whether such delays are actually happening.
“It’s really a cost issue, not an access issue,” Lutnick said.
He also stressed that domestic production of steel and aluminum are necessary for national security.
“If you don’t have the ability to make your own steel and aluminum, you can’t fight a war and that’s what the president’s doing, trying to make sure we make sufficient steel and aluminum to protect our defense,” he told the panel.
(Updates with additional detail from the fourth paragraph.)