*

Once big, Chinese orders are now a small part of Boeing's ( BA )

backlog

*

Financial effect of a ban would likely be relatively small

for

Boeing ( BA )

*

Boeing ( BA ), China had reportedly been in talks for 500-jet

deal

(Adds Boeing context, background in paragraphs 2, 4-7, 9-12,

bullets)

By Dan Catchpole and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The United States could

impose export controls on Boeing ( BA ) plane parts as part of

Washington's response to Chinese export limits on rare earth

minerals, President Donald Trump said on Friday.

Trump has frequently used Boeing ( BA ) in his aggressive efforts to

reshape global trade since taking office in January. During

clashes with Trump over trade, Beijing in April ordered Chinese

airlines to temporarily stop taking deliveries of new Boeing ( BA )

jets. The planemaker has also landed several large sales from

foreign carriers following visits by Trump.

"We have many things, including a big thing is airplane.

They (China) have a lot of Boeing ( BA ) planes, and they need parts,

and lots of things like that," Trump told reporters at the White

House, when asked what items could the U.S. impose export

controls on.

The planemaker is in talks to sell as many as 500 jets to China,

Bloomberg reported in August. It would be the U.S. planemaker's

first major Chinese order since Trump's first term in office.

Even if that falls through, the financial hit to Boeing ( BA ) will

likely be small, said Scott Hamilton, an aerospace analyst with

Leeham Co. "It's sandpaper on Boeing's ( BA ) hide."

Historically, China made up as much as 25% of Boeing's ( BA ) order

book, but today it is less than 5%.

Chinese airlines have orders for at least 222 Boeing ( BA ) jets,

according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. The country

has 1,855 Boeing ( BA ) airplanes in service. The vast majority of

planes on order and in service are Boeing's ( BA ) popular 737

single-aisle jet.

A ban on spare parts or exports would also hit CFM

International, the joint venture between GE Aerospace and

France's Safran, which makes the LEAP engine used on the Boeing

737 MAX. GE also makes engines for the 777 and 787, two larger

jets that China has ordered.

Boeing's ( BA ) European rival Airbus has only 185 orders from Chinese

customers, according to Cirium. Airbus has a production facility

in Tianjin, which turns out about four of its single-aisle A320

jets a month.

China is trying to jumpstart its own commercial jetliner

industry, largely with the COMAC C919, a competitor to the A320

and 737. Chinese customers have ordered 365 of the

domestically-built jet, according to Cirium.

U.S. export controls on Western-supplied parts for the C919

have significantly slowed production of that aircraft. As of

September, COMAC had delivered only five of the 32 jets Chinese

customers expect this year.