Trade Tiffs with China Heating Up

Beijing will tread carefully in punishing Boeing over sales of Patriot missiles to Taipei. Near term, it will tilt more purchases by state-controlled carriers away from the U.S. aircraft manufacturer to Airbus, but Airbus lacks the capacity to meet all of China's long-range civil aviation needs. And there's another consideration, as aerospace consultant Joel Johnson of the Teal Group Corp. explains: "A little over half their fleet is Boeing. If they retaliate against (Boeing) aircraft parts, they're only screwing their own airlines."