Embraer also believes it will be able to sell its E2 regional jets to US airlines, but recognizes that Brazilian products rates can complicate efforts to close a first agreement.
The company escaped a big setback last week when US President Donald Trump, but still faces a 10% rate imposed in April.
Embraer has long sought to introduce US airlines to the E195-E2 as a small unique corridor jet that could complement larger aircraft operation, but so far has not been able to close a sale on its number one market, although it has won customers for the plane in Europe and other regions.
“We believe, yes (which is possible),” the executive president Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters on Tuesday (5).
“It’s harder because it has an additional cost for us to manage the customer … We’re talking to potential customers, but of course the zero rate makes it much easier, so we will keep insisting.”
The EMBRAER E175-E1, a smaller first generation jet, is essential for US regional routes and has no clear substitute.
The E2 family, in turn, competes with the Airbus A220 operated by airlines such as Delta and Jetblue, for which the European manufacturer has an assembly line in the US state of Alabama.
The Brazilian company has been defending the return to zero fare rules for all aviation and aerospace industries, especially after a provisional agreement between the US and the European Union exempted tariff aircraft.
“If Boeing’s Archirrival will have zero rate, we who don’t even compete with them why are we going to be 10%?” Said Gomes Neto. “It doesn’t make much sense.”
In defending tariff relief, Embraer sought to highlight its ties with the United States, including local jobs and plans to buy $ 21 billion in US products by 2030.
The company’s argument for its KC-390 cargo plane if the country decides to buy the military jet, which is up to Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules.
“The competition there is difficult, we know this, we are aware of it. But we have increased the team, we reinforced the team, hired a consultancy that has been working with us to adjust the strategy, so we are excited and think there is an opportunity,” said Gomes Neto, adding that he recently presented the case to US officials as a “business opportunity”.
The executive added that Embraer has been working with a “relevant partner” to introduce the KC-390 in the US, but declined to identify it.
