Trump-Xi summit: Beijing unlikely to commit to new Boeing orders even as US and China talk trade – here’s what happened | Today’s news
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Washington for a highly anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump. Ahead of Xi’s arrival, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US and China had agreed to a two-month extension of their trade truce.
Chinese President Xi and US President Trump agreed to a one-year trade truce at a meeting in South Korea last October after an eye-opening tariff war.
The contract was due to expire in November and will now be extended until January 10.
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The Trump-Xi summit highlighted continued efforts to manage tariffs and trade relations after a previously agreed extension to the trade truce. It aims to facilitate dialogue between the two largest economies to address mutual economic interests.
Skepticism is rife as, despite the optimism surrounding the summit, talks on Boeing’s major orders remain on hold, focusing instead on finalizing a smaller deal for 200 planes.
Airbus has gained market share in China by maintaining more favorable relations and a local final assembly line, while Boeing has faced restrictions and shrinking influence since 2017 due to trade tensions.
Yes, the emphasis reflects a potential strategic intent to align China’s interests with those of the US, but it also raises questions about the sincerity of cooperation amid lingering tensions over trade and technology.
Discussions are expected to focus on reducing tariffs, trade restrictions and could potentially pave the way for a more comprehensive trade agreement between the two nations.
Read also | “We should be partners, not rivals”: What Xi Jinping said before meeting with Trump
“We’re extending what we call the ‘Busan Agreement’ — the economic restraint between the two countries that was supposed to end on Nov. 10 — which will be extended until Jan. 10,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox News, adding that the two countries are still trying to come up with a potentially larger deal.
No deal between US and China on Boeing
While there is optimism about the summit between the US and Chinese presidents, according to Reuters, hopes for a new Chinese commitment to buy Boeing aircraft are fading.
A Reuters report, citing two people briefed on the matter, said negotiations were still in motion. The planemaker is instead seeking to finalize a May deal with China to buy 200 planes, rather than earlier hopes of securing new commitments for hundreds more, he added.
One of the people briefed on the matter said the final details of part of the May deal could be announced during the summit if the contracts can be finalized despite the challenges.
Before it was signed, there were concerns about China getting guaranteed access to spare parts after earlier threats from Trump. China’s Ministry of Commerce said in May that the US had provided guarantees on the supply of parts and components for aircraft engines as part of the deal with Boeing.
Boeing’s loss is Airbus’ gain
Boeing has been effectively shut down since 2017, while European rival Airbus has continued to expand its share of one of the world’s largest aviation markets.
China has imposed restrictions on new deliveries from Boeing and halted purchases of parts amid an escalating tariff dispute with the US, favoring Airbus and domestic COMAC.
Read also | Can China hope to break the Airbus-Boeing aircraft duopoly?
Airbus has made more inroads into China than Boeing in recent years, partly because it has a final assembly line in Tianjin and relations between China and Europe have been “more favorable” than those between China and the US, Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based aerospace consultancy Endau Analytics, told Reuters.
“Boeing has lost much of its influence in our region, partly because of politics, but mainly because of its own internal problems,” he said.
China is expected to order around 9,000 new aircraft by 2045, more than any other region, according to market forecasts by Airbus and Boeing.
According to Reuters, the two Trump-Xi summits this year were expected to catalyze a new round of Boeing purchases. Before the spring summit, representatives of Boeing, China and the US discussed an agreement for up to 500 aircraft.
After the summit in May, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the smaller-than-expected 200-jet deal was an “initial tranche” of orders and that the reopening of the Chinese market was a real win.
