Brazil's civil aviation authority (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - ANAC) has suspended all aircraft certification actions, and pilot and flight attendant examinations as part of a broader 40% reduction in inspection activities following a BRL24 million reais (USD4.6 million) freeze on federal funding.

“ANAC reiterates that budget cuts affecting core activities of regulatory agencies cause direct harm to Brazilian society, as well as a drop in revenue, as in the case of suspension of certification actions. Without certification, no operation of new aircraft occurs in the Brazilian civil aviation market,” the agency said in a statement.

Initial inspections of new aircraft imported into the country, whether new or used, private or commercial, are suspended. These inspections are required for issuance of airworthiness certificates. Maintenance operations may also be affected, as regulatory approval is often required prior to return to service.

The agency further halted certification exams for pilots and flight attendants, laid off outsourced workers, interrupted investments in information technology, and cancelled participation in several events.

ANAC president Tiago Faierstein said the agency is working with the government to restore funding. The Brazilian government announced a freeze of BRL22.1 billion (USD4.3 billion) in the federal budget due to increased projected spending in other areas.

The United States Department of Defense has designated aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Aircraft as an entity identified as a Chinese military company operating in the United States under the Section 1260H list published on June 8 under the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The designation does not impose any economic sanctions on the OEM.

The OEM was listed as a subsidiary of AVIC - Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

“AVIC is a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base because it is affiliated with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND),” the document states.

Designation under Section 1260 primarily affects procurement and defence contracting within the DoD, which cannot enter into or renew agreements with the OEM. Other agencies and contractors working with the government often avoid Section 1260H-designated companies as a compliance precaution, but are not formally banned from doing so.

Cirrus Aircraft was acquired by AVIC subsidiary China Aviation Industry General Aircraft in 2011 for approximately USD210 million. At the time, the transaction was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

In 2021, AVIC was one of 59 entities added to the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (NS-CMIC) list, which restricts the purchase or sale of publicly traded securities of designated Chinese entities by United States citizens.

More recently, in mid-2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said the state had blocked Cirrus Aircraft's attempt to purchase land near Provo, citing national security concerns related to AVIC ownership and Utah law restricting land acquisitions by certain foreign entities.

Cirrus Aircraft is the largest OEM of piston-powered general aviation aircraft in the United States, manufacturing the SR20 and SR22 types, alongside the jet-powered Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet. The United States Air Force operates twenty-five T-53A Kadet II trainer aircraft, based on the SR20.

ch-aviation contacted Cirrus Aircraft for comment.