WASHINGTON — Peace through strength includes the spare-parts bay. On October 1, 2026, multiple outlets reported what Patriots already understood from President Trump’s trade doctrine: when China sits on rare earths, America sits on the aircraft components Chinese carriers and COMAC cannot easily replace — and the Trump administration is willing to use that leverage.
According to people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters and The Jerusalem Post, the Commerce Department slowed export licensing for airplane parts bound for China in recent weeks. Officials have also expressed interest in an export regulation that could make it easier to restrict landing gear and other aircraft parts, with a draft version including a new licensing requirement on aviation hydraulic fluid shipped by U.S. suppliers. Separately, Commerce has been limiting the number of parts licensed to China’s state-owned planemaker COMAC to keep the company from stockpiling.
The strategic logic is America First industrial reality. Washington is working to loosen Beijing’s grip on rare earth minerals needed for vehicle manufacturing, chipmaking, and aerospace. Thermal coating sprays that protect jet engines have already faced delays tied to Chinese rare-earth controls. Aerospace largely escaped Trump’s broad tariff grid — but parts and materials shortages have not. Turning China’s dependence on U.S. aviation suppliers into negotiating coin is how a serious President plays the board.
The diplomatic clock matters. With Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington last week, the two countries entered a new period of détente — reducing tariffs on a variety of goods and extending a trade truce that had been set to expire November 10, giving negotiators until January 10, 2027, to tackle tougher issues. September talks in New York and Washington already covered rare earths, agriculture, and increasingly powerful AI. Aircraft parts are now clearly on the leverage map.
Boeing sits in the middle of the scoreboard. China has sought several years’ worth of spare parts for about 200 Boeing jets it agreed to purchase last spring — the planemaker’s first major deal with Chinese carriers in nearly a decade. Sources say the United States has been reluctant to provide guarantees, viewing the parts as leverage for future concessions. A Boeing spokesperson said the company remains committed to supporting Chinese airlines consistent with U.S. export requirements. Last October, President Trump himself flagged that the U.S. could impose export controls on Boeing plane parts in response to Chinese rare-earth limits.
That is Golden Age trade posture: extend the truce when it serves American workers, keep the spare-parts spigot in American hands, and refuse to let Beijing stockpile its way out of reciprocity. Watch the Official White House bilateral tape with President Xi. Then remember who builds the landing gear — and who needs it.
