Nov 11 (Reuters) - Embraer ( ERJ ) does not view the

election of Donald Trump as a setback for its efforts to

introduce the C-390 Millennium military aircraft in the U.S.,

the head of the Brazilian planemaker's defense and security

division told Reuters.

The company sees the U.S. as key for its military cargo plane -

along with India, the European Union and Saudi Arabia - and has

hired consultancy firm Oliver Wyman to help it explore the local

defense market.

Trump, who will succeed President Joe Biden in January, has

floated protectionist ideas including aggressive changes to U.S.

trade policies, such as a 10% or higher tariff on all goods

imported into the country.

But Embraer ( ERJ ) believes there is a gap in the U.S. military fleet

that the C-390 could fill, and expects that U.S. content and a

potential local assembly line will help sell the world's largest

economy on the plane's merits.

"The C-390 is already a product that complies with the Buy

America Act - that is, it meets the required percentage of

American content," Bosco da Costa Junior, head of Embraer's ( ERJ )

defense and security division, said in an interview on

Sunday.

"We see the second Trump term positively. I think Embraer ( ERJ )

can play an important role in some segments where we clearly see

a gap in the U.S.," he added. "Nothing changes in our strategy

towards the United States."

He noted that the Brazilian planemaker has a longstanding

relationship with the U.S., including the sale of commercial and

business jets.

U.S. commercial carriers are major buyers of Embraer's ( ERJ ) regional

jetliners, and the Phenom 300 business jet is the country's

most-flown aircraft, with an assembly plant located in

Melbourne, Florida.

"Our products in general have huge American content. Each

Embraer ( ERJ ) plane sold generates taxes, jobs, investment in the

United States," Costa added.

Embraer's ( ERJ ) defense and security division also has a footprint in

the country, which flies its Super Tucano light attack aircraft.

The company has a production line for the turboprop plane in

Jacksonville, Florida.

Establishing a C-390 final assembly line in the U.S. is a

possibility, depending on how sales evolve, Costa said, adding

that Embraer's ( ERJ ) goal was not to replace any operating aircraft

but instead add capabilities to the U.S. military.

The C-390 could be a fit for the U.S. Marine Corps, Air

Force and U.S. special forces, Embraer ( ERJ ) has previously said. A

U.S. delegation examined the plane during a multinational

training exercise organized by Brazil last week, Costa said.

The C-390, which has been selected by NATO countries such as

Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary and the Czech

Republic for their fleets, normally competes with Lockheed

Martin's ( LMT ) C-130 Hercules plane.