PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - European aerospace companies

are bracing for "very strong" protectionism in the United States

under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, the

head of planemaker Airbus said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters as head of France's GIFAS aerospace

industry association, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury also said

supply chains had yet to recover from the impact of the

pandemic.

Airbus is expected to announce later on Thursday that it

made 766 deliveries in 2024, up 4% from the previous year,

coupled with a slowdown in orders from record highs in 2023.

The industry faces a cocktail of strong aerospace and

defence demand, except in the European space sector, combined

with supply chain difficulties, geopolitical tensions and

growing competition from India and elsewhere, Faury said.

Days ahead of Trump's inauguration, the European industry is

preparing for a shift to protectionism that has yet to be

defined but is likely to be pronounced, Faury said.

Trump has threatened tariffs on foreign goods as part of an

economic agenda to "put America first".

Europe's aerospace sector is benefiting from strong demand

for commercial jets and increased defence spending, while facing

overcapacity and thousands of job cuts in satellites.

Faury said European defence companies face what he described

as unjustifiable shortages of financing from the banking sector,

given the war in Ukraine.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the sector has said

defence should represent a greater percentage of portfolios,

while sustainable investors in Europe have remained opposed.

Holding the rotating presidency of France's aerospace lobby,

Faury ticked off requests to the government of Prime Minister

Francois Bayrou, who took office last month, including

maintaining support for research on cutting emissions and easing

corporate charges.

The former auto executive said the history of the French car

industry demonstrated it was possible to tumble from a strong

export surplus in 2000 to a significant deficit.

"Let's not repeat in aviation what happened in other

sectors," he told a news conference.