Boeing's Hopes Sunk as US-China Summit Fails to Deliver Jet Deal
Boeing's hopes of securing new commitments from China for hundreds more jets during this week's US-China summit have sunk, according to sources. The planemaker is instead trying to finalize a May deal for China to buy 200 planes.
The provisional deal struck in tandem with the last Trump-Xi summit in Beijing put Boeing back into competition for Chinese jetliner orders, which it had been effectively shut out of since 2017.
China is expected to order around 9,000 new jets by 2045, more than any other region, according to market forecasts. The US and China agreed to extend a trade truce that was due to expire on November 10, allowing more time to work on a potentially bigger trade deal.
Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said brokering new jetliner deals is not a top priority at this summit. 'A lot of trade relationships are hostage to these meetings,' he said. 'New aircraft orders would be a benefit, but I don't think that's a necessity for this summit.'
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News on September 21 that 'there are about 140 (jetliner orders) that are in a good state', with another 10 orders being finalized. One of the people briefed on the matter said final details for part of the May deal could be announced during the summit if contracts can be finalized.
Richard Aboulafia, managing director of aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said: 'It will be a victory if the 200-airplane order can be saved.'
Airbus has made more inroads in China than Boeing in recent years, partly due to its final assembly line in Tianjin and better relations between China and Europe, according to Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.