US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Wednesday that China is “very interested” in additional Boeing plane purchases, an issue the Trump administration plans to press when President Xi Jinping visits the United States in September.
“They agreed to 200 aeroplanes during the visit. We will see if they commit to a larger number when Xi Jinping arrives in Washington,” Bessent said in his budget request testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.
China’s commitment to buy 200 Boeing aircraft was one of the key deliverables of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing last month, which the White House termed an “initial purchase.”
Sourabh Gupta, a Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies highlighted that Boeing purchases were “expressly tied” to the continuity of supply of engines and parts for China’s flagship C919 passenger jet.
“Once there is sufficient trust on assurance of flow, the number of Boeing jet purchases could reach up to an additional 500-550 more,” he predicted.
Bessent’s statement comes a day after the US Trade Representative’s office announced a public comment process regarding the newly created US-China Board of Trade – a mechanism to manage bilateral trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
