page_title: CFM International CFM56
section_title: 1973 Nixon–Pompidou meeting
hierarchical_section_title: CFM International CFM56 / History / Export issues / 1973 Nixon–Pompidou meeting
caption_attribution_description: US President Nixon and French President George Pompidou prior to U.S. French summit conference in Reykjavik, Iceland
context_page_description: The CFM International CFM56 series is a French-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International, with a thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 lbf. CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran Aircraft Engines of France, and GE Aviation of the United States. Both companies are responsible for producing components and each has its own final assembly line. GE produces the high-pressure compressor, combustor, and high-pressure turbine, Safran manufactures the fan, gearbox, exhaust and the low-pressure turbine, and some components are made by Avio of Italy and Honeywell from the US. The engines are assembled by GE in Evendale, Ohio, and by Safran in Villaroche, France. The completed engines are marketed by CFMI. Despite initial export restrictions, it is one of the most common turbofan aircraft engines in the world, in four major variants.
  The CFM56 first ran in 1974. By April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was two weeks away from being dissolved.
context_section_description: Despite the export license being rejected, both the French and GE continued to push the Nixon Administration for permission to export the F101 technology. Efforts continued throughout the months following the rejection, culminating in the engine becoming an agenda topic during the 1973 meeting of Presidents Nixon and Pompidou in Reykjavík. Discussions at this meeting resulted in an agreement that allowed the development of the CFM56 to proceed. Contemporary reports state that the agreement was based on assurances that the core of the engine, the part that GE was developing from the military F101, would be built in the U.S. and then transported to France in order to protect the sensitive technologies. The joint venture also agreed to pay the U.S. an $80 million royalty fee (calculated at $20,000 per engine predicted to be built) as repayment for the development money provided by the government for the F101 engine core. Documents declassified in 2007 revealed that a key aspect of the CFM56 export agreement was that the French government agreed not to seek tariffs against American aircraft being imported into Europe.
caption: U.S. President Nixon (left) and French President Georges Pompidou (right) prior to the 1973 U.S.–French summit in Reykjavík, Iceland
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