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For Immediate Release: September 13, 2010
Contact: Cory Churches (202) 482-3809
Statement from Under Secretary For International Trade Francisco SÁnchez on National Aerospace Week
In honor of National Aerospace Week, I’d like to congratulate the U.S. aerospace community on its success as a vibrant and growing industry that has made a tremendous positive impact on the U.S. economy. There is no better time than now to reflect on the vital contributions that thousands of American manufacturers both big and small have made. This week we recognize the more than 700,000 U.S. workers in the aerospace supply chain make to U.S. national security and economic growth. Few other industries can boast such a long-held global reputation for delivering high-quality, innovative products in today’s competitive marketplace.
Our national aerospace enterprise encompasses the entire range of aerospace products, from complete airplanes and spacecraft, to major systems such as engines and avionics, to structures and components. Manufacturers and workers in the U.S. aerospace industry consistently produce the largest trade surplus of any manufacturing sector – $47 billion in 2009 – and are a key component to achieving President Obama’s National Export Initiative goal of doubling exports in five years in support of two million American jobs.
The United States aerospace industry should be proud not only because its achievements have earned the industry a track record of excellence, but also because these achievements have directly benefitted industry workers and the U.S. economy as a whole. Aerospace production workers earn 80 percent more than workers in all manufacturing industries and more than twice as much as all U.S. private-sector workers. Exports of U.S. aerospace products also support more U.S. jobs than the exports of any other industry.
National Aerospace Week offers a chance to recognize these important achievements, but it is also a time to look to the future. The aerospace industry faces unique challenges as our nation looks to diversify and grow our economy, but the innovation that has led the industry to great success thus far is the same innovation that will fuel its continued success throughout the 21st century. Through research and development, technological advances and the capabilities of its highly skilled workforce, I have no doubt that the U.S. aerospace industry will remain a model for global competitiveness and innovation.
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