In October 2017, before the trade war, the Trump Administration scored an little-known victory over China: expanding the power of US aviation in the Chinese market.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which ensures that the US skies are safe to fly in, announced on its website that it agreed with its Chinese counterparts on “recognizing each other’s regulatory systems with respect to the airworthiness of aviation products and articles.”

Here’s the catch: China virtually produces no “aviation products and articles” compared to the US. America’s Boeing and Europe’s Airbus virtually rules the passenger jet industry not just in China, but also worldwide. China’s state-owned COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has made only three planes: the ARJ-21, C919, and C929. And the C929 couldn’t even be built without Russian help.

And here’s why America wins: China’s general reputation of safety, from baby formula to bullet trains, are so disastrous that it would have trouble passing the safety regulations it agreed to set with the FAA. In other words, it can build the new jets mentioned above, but it likely can’t get them to pass safety standards. Thus, Beijing can’t fly them and China’s aviation markets remains safe for American sellers. In effect, China was tricked into setting safety standards that was too high for itself.

So far, Beijing has ordered its state-owned airlines to purchase its locally-designed jets. But whether those airlines will fly them is a completely different matter. One thing’s certain: If I were a Chinese passenger, I’d avoid communist jets like the plague.

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– Jeffrey Benner