All Americans, including our member companies, want to prevent nuclear proliferation. Where we part company with our opponents on this issue is over the means chosen to achieve these goals. Sanctions ignore diplomacy, ignore multilateralism, and ignore the benefits of engagement. Today two-thirds of all Boeing airplanes produced are shipped overseas. We must have continued access to foreign markets, especially those emerging economies with fledgling airlines because their initial purchases usually establish what brand they will buy in the long-run.
Unilateral sanctions are unpredictable, and for our business that spells trouble.
The international aerospace market is intensely competitive. Our customers must be confident their airplanes will be financed, delivered, and serviced. When sanctions raise questions about our ability to deliver, it counts against us in a very concrete way during the bid evaluation process and gives Airbus an undeserved boost. Boeing's current business is not exempt from the roulette wheel of sanctions implementation. Today we are precluded from selling aircraft in seven countries, and at least eleven more markets are at risk because of current or potential sanctions.