The American airline Delta Air Lines has found a way to circumvent the import tariffs imposed by the United States on new Airbus aircraft. After Delta CEO Ed Bastian categorically ruled out paying these tariffs in April and even offered to postpone delivery dates if necessary, the airline has now maneuvered a new A350-900 into its fleet duty-free with an unusual stopover.
In April, Ed Bastian made it clear that Delta was under no circumstances prepared to assume additional costs due to import tariffs on Airbus aircraft. He warned that a cost increase of 20 percent per aircraft would significantly impact profitability. Delta therefore made it clear that it would not assume tariffs on aircraft deliveries and would wait and see how things developed. At that time, Airbus still had numerous orders from Delta pending delivery, including 69 A220-300s, 82 A321neos, six A330-900s, eight A350-900s, and 20 A350-1000s.
Shortly after Bastian's comments, US President Donald Trump suspended additional tariffs for dozens of countries for 90 days, but a general import tax of ten percent remained in force.
Loophole in customs law used
Now, Delta has exploited a loophole in customs regulations to avoid the duties when taking delivery of a new A350-900. The aircraft, with the registration N528DN, Delta's 37th A350-900, flew first to Tokyo-Narita Airport after being handed over by Airbus in Toulouse on May 3, and only then continued on to the United States.
The key point: Because Delta declared the first leg of the flight to Japan as a commercial flight, the A350 was already considered a used aircraft upon arrival in the US and was thus exempt from import duties. This trick had already worked successfully for Delta in 2019 – during the last round of tariff collections. The airline is thus demonstrating its determination to avoid the additional costs of tariffs and ensure the economic viability of its fleet expansion. It remains to be seen whether this approach will be applied to future deliveries and how US customs authorities will react to this circumvention.