China Is Blocking Its Airlines From Buying “Tens Of Billions Of Dollars” In U.S. Made Boeing Airplanes

In what should serve as a wakeup call for the Biden administration about the climate of trade between the U.S. and China (but won’t), China is reportedly blocking its domestic airlines from doing business with Boeing.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo made the revelation on Tuesday, according to Reuters, stating that Chinese airlines were being prevented from buying “tens of billions of dollars” in U.S. made airplanes.

Raimondo also pointed out that China wasn’t living up to its promises made in 2020 to buy U.S. goods. 

Raimondo commented on Tuesday: “I don’t know if Boeing is here. … There’s tens of billions of dollars of planes that Chinese airlines want to buy but the Chinese government is standing in the way.”

She went into depth on a National Public Radio broadcast, also on Tuesday, stating: “The Chinese need to play by the rules. We need to hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable.”

Recall, Boeing had previously urged the U.S. government to keep hostility toward Beijing as a result of its human rights violations separate from trade relations. Now, it appears we know why. 

Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said toward the end of Q1 2021: “I am hoping we can sort of separate intellectual property, human rights and other things from trade and continue to encourage a free trade environment between these two economic juggernauts. We cannot afford to be locked out of that market.”

Meanwhile Boeing, obviously with its finger on the pulse of its largest customers, came out an raised its forecast for China’s aircraft demand for the next 20 years last week. Chinese airlines will need 8,700 new airplanes through 2040, Boeing estimated. That amounts to $1.47 trillion in aircraft.

China’s aviation authority was the first to ground the Boeing 737 MAX and China accounts for about 25% of Boeing’s sales.