Donald Trump. Photo: Pool / Abaca / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The US could impose export checks for Boeing planes, as part of Washington's response to new restrictions imposed by China on rare mineral exports, said President Donald Trump, quoted by Reuters.
Trump, who frequently used Boeing in his aggressive global trade strategy, suggested that aircraft and American spare parts could become Economic Pressure tools, News.ro reports.
“We have many things, including a big thing, the planes. They (China) have many Boeing aircraft and need parts and many other things,” Trump told reporters at the White House, asked what products could come under new export checks.
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In April, as a reaction to commercial tensions with Washington, the Chinese authorities ordered national airlines to temporarily suspend new Boeing aircraft. However, the American producer subsequently signed major contracts with other international carriers, following Trump's official visits.
According to Bloomberg, Boeing is in discussions for the sale of up to 500 aircraft to China – the first big contract in the current mandate of the president.
Even if the transaction does not materialize, the financial impact would be relatively limited, says the Aerospace Analyst Scott Hamilton, from Leeham Co: “It's just a boeing scratch.” In the past, China represented up to 25% of the company's order portfolio, but currently the weight has dropped below 5%.
The data of the Cirium analysis company show that Chinese operators have orders for at least 222 Boeing aircraft and already operate 1,855 aircraft of the American manufacturer, most of the 737 range.
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An eventual prohibition on spare parts would also affect CFM International, the partnership between GE Aerospace (USA) and Safran (France), which produces LEAP engines for Boeing 737 max. GE also provides engines for models 777 and 787, both included in China's orders.
In comparison, the European Airbus rival has only 185 orders from Chinese customers, according to Cirium. The company produces about four A320 aircraft per month at its Tianjin factory.
China tries in parallel to develop its own aeronautical industry, through the COMAC C919-direct competitor for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. So far, Chinese companies have ordered 365 such aircraft, but American restrictions on Western parts have significantly slowed down: until September, Comac had only five of the 32 aircraft scheduled for this year.
