At the Taipei Aerospace & Defence Technology Exhibition (TADTE) 2017, which was held from 17-19 August in Taiwan, Aviation Maintenance’s very own Legal Spin columnist Jason Dickstein presented a seminar entitled: Strategies for Success: Partnerships and Other Methods for Taiwanese companies Seeking to Enter the U.S. Aviation Parts Market.”
In his introduction, professor and department head / chairman at National Taipei University of Technology JK Chen stated that a number of “Taiwan companies are trying to upgrade their products and are looking to break into the aerospace market. Many have already proved that they can be outstanding suppliers to international markets.”
Dickstein is general counsel of the American Suppliers Association. Formed in 1993, it is an non-profit association with over 630 members, nearly one third of which reside outside the United States.
Giving advice to aspiring Taiwanese companies, Dickstein said that parts that were acceptable in the U.S. market had to be “produced under the nation’s production approval, or produced under foreign production approval but through an agreement with the domestic (U.S.) production authority.”
In general, he concluded that if successful, companies sound think in the long term about how they might supply aviation parts into the U.S. market. He said fixing the right pricing level was crucial: “you don’t want to find you are losing money 10 years into a 20 year cycle.” However, Dickstein reminded the audience of wider factors that could influence their business ambitions such the balance of trade between countries. “For example, Boeing may want to sell to Taiwan and may then tie-in Taiwanese companies as suppliers to offset the deal.”