US, China in final stages of talks to finalise 'huge' Boeing aircraft order

Boeing has been working toward finalising a deal with China to sell as many as 500 aircraft, in a transaction that would end a sales drought that stretches back to Trump's last visit in 2017

The US and China are in the final stages of negotiations for a “huge” Boeing Co. aircraft order, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said, as the two nations look to thaw frosty ties and work toward a trade deal. 

While Perdue didn’t offer details on the size of the potential order, his comments at a briefing in Beijing alongside a visiting delegation of US lawmakers indicated that the deal will be locked in swiftly.

 

“This is a huge order, and it’s very important to the president. Very important for Boeing. I think it’s very important to China,” he said Tuesday. “I think that we’re in the last days of that, weeks of that negotiation, and we’re hopeful that that will turn out to be the case.” 

 

  Boeing has been working toward finalizing a deal with China to sell as many as 500 aircraft, in a transaction that would end a sales drought that stretches back to US President Donald Trump’s last visit in 2017, Bloomberg News reported last month. The landmark order, which has been years in the making, would be the centerpiece of a trade agreement between the two nations but has been contingent on an easing in tensions.

 

There have been recent signs of improving relations between the world’s biggest economies, with Trump speaking by phone to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last week. That followed an announcement that negotiators had developed a framework deal for ByteDance Ltd to sell its US-based TikTok operations — potentially removing a major sticking point in trade talks. 

 

Plane diplomacy has featured heavily in Trump’s presidency, with transactions involving Boeing announced alongside his visits with foreign dignitaries. There are likely more on the way as global leaders flock to the US in coming days as part of the United Nations General Assembly.