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Boeing has been fined $51m by the US State Department for a number of export violations, including technical US military data being downloaded by Chinese employees in China.
An “extensive” compliance review into the company found that Boeing was responsible for 199 violations of the Arms Export Control Act.
This included the period 2013-17, which saw three Chinese employees at Boeing-run facilities in China downloading technical data related to the F-18, F-15 and F-22 fighter jets, the E-3 airborne warning and control system, the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and the AGM-84E cruise missile.
It also emerged that “an indeterminate number” of international employees and contractors at Boeing sites across countries, including Russia, downloaded technical data 80 times over five years.
All of the alleged violations were voluntarily disclosed, and a considerable majority predate 2020. The Department said Boeing had been cooperative and has since incorporated numerous improvements to its compliance programme.
It also agreed to suspend payment of $24m of the settlement on the condition that the funds will be used to implement various mandatory measures to strengthen Boeing’s compliance. The aircraft maker will also face at least two years of regular audits to ensure its progress.
“We are committed to our trade controls obligations, and we look forward to working with the State Department under the agreement announced today,” Boeing said in a statement.
Most of the violations occurred before the tightening of export controls on China. This started under Donald Trump when he added the tech giant Huawei to a series of firms blacklisted from working with US companies.
The Biden administration also continued to tighten export controls on US technology to China amid ramping political tensions.
The fine is just the latest in a series of major incidents faced by Boeing, not least of all when a section of fuselage fell off one of its 737 Max planes while in flight in January. The incident caused the groundings of all 737 Max planes, which were eventually cleared for take off after each underwent a “thorough” inspection and maintenance process.
