By David Shepardson and Dan Catchpole
WASHINGTON/SEATTLE, May 14 (Reuters) – China has agreed to order 200 Boeing jets, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity in excerpts from an interview broadcast on Thursday, marking the country’s first purchase of U.S.-made commercial jets in nearly a decade.
Few details about the deal were immediately available but Boeing shares fell more than 4% after the comments were aired. The total was much lower than media reports which have suggested the planemaker was nearing a deal to sell 500 or more airplanes to China.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump was referring to the entire Boeing order or only to narrowbody or widebody planes. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said earlier that he expected an announcement about a large Boeing order during Trump’s visit to Beijing, during which he held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“One thing he agreed to today, he’s going to order 200 jets … Boeing wanted 150, they got 200,” Fox News cited Trump as saying, referring to Xi.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and David Ljunggren and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Matthew Lewis)
