Boeing should not be a “unintended result” of the trade war

Digest opened free editor

Rola Khaleda, FT editor, chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Boeing Kelly Ordrag’s CEO has been working with the Trump administration to ensure that the company was not an “unintended result” of the trade war with China, indicating that the countries buy more of their aircraft to reduce their trade deficit with the United States.

In an interview with Financial Times, OrtbergWho took over in August, also said that the launch of a new plane is expected to replace the best 737 MAX -selling was not an immediate priority, saying that “the market is not ready now.”

As the largest source in America, Boeing was arrested in the volatile Donald Trump war, which raised the state -free tariffs of the aviation industry, endangered aircraft connections at risk and supply.

Boeing was ready to re -connect the new aircraft to Chinese Airlines next month, after a deal that entered into Washington with Beijing two weeks ago to reduce the customs tariff. But Friday is president Donald Trump He accused China Retreat Regarding the agreement, raising the possibility of a Chinese response.

Ordberg said that the relationship between the countries is “dynamic”, adding that he had learned not “hyperactivity, because it is likely to change tomorrow.”

“In the end, this will lead to new trade agreements – it will be fine,” he said.

“It is just its administration during this period of uncertainty … so we are just trying to remain flexible, make sure that we are communicating with the administration until they negotiate these things, we do not (become) an unintended result.”

The trade war was decisively for the veteran warrior in the industry, which was described in April 2025 as the “Sunnah turning” in Boeing. Ortberg, former CEO of Boeing Rockwell Collens, faced the arduous task of rehabilitating the space and defense group after a series of safety and manufacturing crises.

Just weeks after the job, Ortberg had to raise more than $ 21 billion in new ownership rights to support Boeing budget, in addition to facing a A strike from its largest union Which stopped the production of 737 as a maximum.

Ordberg said that Boeing will pay “less than $ 500 million … for the year” about imports to build the company’s products, and Boeing hopes disappear after negotiating bilateral agreements. Revenge definitions of countries like China are a greater threat, as airlines can lead to refusal to connect.

However, Ordrag said he was confident that geopolitical tensions will not delay Boeing’s recovery.

He said that the company has a strong accumulation of requests, adding that for countries that want a trade balance with the United States, the aircraft “is” a very large element in dollars, so it will be a great opportunity to restore balance. “

Orberg said, Boeing’s recovery was ahead of the initial focus on installing the company. The aircraft maker is approaching the production of 38 737 maximum per month, the maximum set by the US Federal Aviation Administration after the outdoor explosion last year in the door board. Boeing must secure the approval of the organizers to build narrow-body aircraft at a higher rate-which aims to 42 per month-to generate money in the second half of the year.

Orberg said: “Once we get to that and I have a stable performance in our government portfolio, I will demand a victory over the stability part of the process,” said Orberg.

“You can call this the corner heart.”

Ortberg has cleared expectations that Boeing will launch a more efficient fuel consumption to Max anytime, although fears that airlines will struggle to achieve sustainability goals.

He said that Boeing was not in a financial position to invest in a new plane program. The market was also not ready, as airline customers are still struggling with the durability of the current engine technology. He said that the airlines “certainly do not want to jump into something more dangerous and more difficult.”

He said that the company will be ready when we “have resources, technology and the ability to do this.”

“It is not today, it’s not tomorrow.”

Separately, Ordrag said he expected Elon Musk It is possible that his daily participation in building a new air force is possible after he left the Trump administration. The billionaire began earlier this year to advise Boeing to complete two Long New Jets to the US President, prompting Trump to accept a gift of $ 400 million from an alternative plane from Qatar.

Ordberg said that some of the plane’s requirements were almost impossible to achieve, and Musk Boeing helped “work with the customer to get some of these requirements to more reasonable requirements.