Washington (AFP)

Donald Trump expressed his "big, big disappointment" after the setbacks of Boeing and worried about their potentially significant repercussions on the health of the American economy, major asset of the American president in his re-election campaign.

"Boeing is a big, big disappointment for me," Donald Trump said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC, given on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the economic and political elite are gathered. World.

"It was, let's say until a year ago, one of the biggest groups in the world, and suddenly a lot of things happened. I'm so disappointed with Boeing, it all had a huge impact", continued the president.

Far from his dismissal trial which agitated the American Congress, the host of the White House, campaigning for a second term, brandished American growth as a standard for his success.

He therefore takes a dim view of the repercussions on this of the problems of Boeing, which announced the day before that the 737 MAX would not fly before mid-2020. These devices have been grounded for over ten months after two accidents that killed 346 people.

"You know, when you talk about growth, the impact (of Boeing's setbacks) is so huge," insisted Donald Trump.

The firm IHS Markit anticipates a drop in GDP of 0.1 point if the 737 MAX remains grounded until June, and 0.2 point if it does not fly at all in 2020.

According to Oxford Economics, the effects on investment, trade and stocks, accumulated in the first quarter of 2020, could represent an impact on GDP of around 0.5% in annualized figures.

Most of this impact would come from exports, Boeing - which exports three-quarters of its production - representing a significant share of American foreign trade.

- Jobs threatened -

Beyond the GDP, tens of thousands of jobs are threatened by subcontractors.

"The longer the production break, the less the companies involved in the production of the 737 MAX (Boeing and its suppliers) will be able to retain the entire workforce," added IHS Markit.

The American secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin had acknowledged Tuesday that the rate of American growth would be influenced by the time it would take "for the MAX to resume its activity", taking note of the economic weight of Boeing.

He had however criticized growth forecasts according to him "too low" of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which expects growth of 2% in the United States this year and 1.7% next year.

Economic growth is also, according to Donald Trump, curbed by the American Central Bank (Fed), which he again attacked Wednesday, accusing him of having mismanaged monetary policy.

The growth rate of the United States, faster than that of other developed economies, is one of its main arguments in its re-election campaign.

He prides himself in particular on having reestablished fairer trade relations with China, after the signing of a preliminary agreement supposed to seal a truce in the conflict between the two economic powers.

The President also welcomes the new Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada (USMCA), which has been finally approved by the United States Congress.

Donald Trump praised his economic performance on Tuesday in Davos, citing "unprecedented prosperity ...".

"The time for skepticism is over, companies are flocking to the United States again (...). The American dream is back, stronger than ever," he said.

© 2020 AFP