Amid ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations, China is reportedly discussing an order for 500 Boeing aircraft from the U.S. aircraft manufacturer. This is interpreted as China bringing aircraft purchases to persuade the U.S. during the 'tariff' truce period.
Bloomberg News reported on the 21st (local time), citing sources, that Boeing and China have entered final negotiations ahead of a contract for 500 aircraft. The two sides are currently in the stage of refining details regarding the aircraft models, quantities, and delivery schedules.
If this contract is concluded, it is expected that the aircraft sales of Boeing, which had struggled in the Chinese market during the first term of the Donald Trump administration's U.S.-China trade conflict, will enter a recovery phase. The last aircraft contract between China and Boeing was in November 2017, when President Trump visited China as a state guest, with an order for 300 aircraft.
Due to U.S.-China tensions, Boeing's presence in the Chinese market has significantly shrunk over the years. In 2018 alone, 219 Boeing aircraft were delivered to Chinese airlines, but this plummeted to 44 the following year. During the four years from 2020 to 2023, deliveries were in the single digits. Currently, there are 1,874 Boeing aircraft operating in China, which is about 20% less than Airbus (2,326 aircraft).
Bloomberg News noted that 'since 2019, sales and deliveries in the Chinese market have been dominated by Airbus,' and added, 'At that time, Chinese regulatory authorities were the first in the world to suspend operations of the 737 MAX after two fatal accidents.' The 737 MAX was involved in accidents with Lion Air in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
China's potential large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft appears to be a measure to resolve the U.S.-China trade conflict. As the Trump administration imposed high tariffs on various countries, nations including the United Kingdom, Qatar, Japan, and Indonesia had pursued the purchase of Boeing aircraft as a bargaining chip.
This contract is expected to be one of the biggest achievements in the trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. The conflict between the two countries reached a peak with tariffs as high as 145%, but has temporarily calmed down as the U.S. has suspended tariffs on China for 90 days.
However, there is also a significant possibility that the contract may fall through. Former U.S. President Joe Biden and President Xi promoted a similar level of 'transaction' in 2023, but it ultimately fell through just before the contract announcement. Moreover, Bloomberg News reported that Alvin Liu, the representative of Boeing's China subsidiary, who had connections with the Chinese government and fluency in Chinese, has since left the company.