US says Chinese government blocking Boeing airplane purchases

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday the Chinese government was preventing its domestic airlines from buying “tens of billions of dollars” of US-manufactured Boeing airplanes. Raimondo said that China was not abiding by commitments to buy US goods it made in 2020 as part of a trade deal with the previous administration. “I don’t know if Boeing is here. ... There’s tens of billions of dollars of planes that Chinese airlines want to buy but the Chinese government is standing in the way,” she said in a question-and-answer session after a speech in Washington. In a separate interview Tuesday, Raimondo confirmed she was specifically referencing China’s blocking of Boeing airplane purchases.“The Chinese need to play by the rules. We need to hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable,” she said. Boeing declined to comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. Boeing CE Dave Calhoun in March urged the United States to keep human rights and other disputes separate from trade relations with Beijing.<br/>