Trump's announcement of aircraft orders from China has caused Boeing shares to collapse

Shares of the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing have sharply lost value after comments by US President Donald Trump on the scale of the upcoming deal with China. The company's shares fell by 4.1%, as the market expected a much larger contract for the supply of aircraft to China.

According to Reuters, Trump said that China had agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft. However, this figure turned out to be significantly lower than previous forecasts and expectations of investors, who hoped for a larger contract between the parties.

According to Reuters sources, on the eve of Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, much larger volumes of purchases were discussed. During the negotiations, a possible order of about 500 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, as well as wide-body airliners for long flights, was discussed.

In addition, China was simultaneously holding consultations with the European concern Airbus regarding a potential deal of a similar scale. This indicates Beijing’s desire to maintain a balance between American and European aircraft manufacturers.

Representatives of big American business also arrived with Trump in the Chinese delegation. Among them were Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, as well as GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp. Their participation emphasized the importance of the negotiations for the American aviation industry.

Reuters notes that the large aircraft order was considered one of the key business deals expected after the summit in Beijing. However, the purchase volume announced by Trump did not meet market expectations, which caused a negative reaction from investors.

Despite the current situation, the Chinese aviation market remains one of the most promising in the world. According to Boeing and Airbus forecasts, China will need at least 9,000 new passenger aircraft by 2045 to meet the growing demand for air transportation.

It is worth noting that the last large-scale order from the Chinese side from Boeing took place during Trump’s visit to Beijing in November 2017. At that time, China agreed to purchase 300 aircraft from the American manufacturer. After that, relations between Washington and Beijing began to gradually deteriorate, which also affected trade and economic cooperation between the countries.