Overview
- Speaking Friday on Air Force One, President Trump said China agreed to 200 Boeing planes with a possible expansion to 750 and engines from GE Aerospace.
- Neither government nor Boeing released contracts, delivery schedules, or aircraft types, leaving the scope and timing of any purchase unverified.
- Boeing shares fell about 4% to 5% Thursday after Trump first cited a 200-plane figure, which trailed reports that had primed investors for roughly 500 jets.
- If completed, the purchase would be Boeing’s first major China order in nearly a decade after Chinese airlines leaned into Airbus and advanced homegrown COMAC jets.
- Any agreement would meet a company still working through more than 6,800 unfilled orders and trying to improve 737 Max manufacturing after a 2024 door-plug blowout, a revived DOJ case, and an eight-week machinists’ strike that slowed output.