Boeing urges US to separate trade relations with China from other disputes

Boeing Co urged the US to keep trade relations with China separate from human rights and other disputes or risk losing out to European rival Airbus.

According to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, his company cannot afford to be locked out of China as Airbus would "jump right in."

He added that while China is politically more difficult for the Biden administration and it was for the last administration, they still have to trade with their largest partner in the world.

Boeing and Airbus each sell about a quarter of their jetliners to China, which has edged past the US as the world’s largest domestic travel market.

China typically makes block purchases for imported jets, often coinciding with US or European diplomatic visits.

China, which has warned foreign companies not to step into politics, rejects US allegations that it has committed genocide against Uighur and other Muslims. Activists claim that over a million Muslims are held in internment camps in the remote Western region.

President Joe Biden last month warned China would face “repercussions” for human rights abuses and said the US would reassert its global role in speaking on such issues.

Analysts say that Boeing’s most pressing concerns in China include the fate of its 737 MAX passenger jet, which was grounded worldwide for almost two years after two fatal crashes. China's regulators continue to voice safety concerns about the 737 MAX plane.

Regulators from the US, Europe, and other major markets have approved the jet to fly again.

China has promised a “step-by-step” approach toward approving the plane, but Western industry sources say concerns are growing that the technical process could become mired in the growing diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Washington.

Calhoun said Boeing had carried out a “top-to-bottom” overhaul and “turned the place upside down” as it learns lessons internally from the crashes, which killed a combined 346 people.