US, Qatar ink sweeping business deals

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. and Qatar signed off Tuesday on sweeping business deals spanning the energy, aeronautics and defense sectors.

President Donald Trump and Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani formalized the deal in a signing ceremony at the White House. It includes Qatar Airways' purchase of five Boeing 777 freighters, and an additional commitment to purchase an unspecified number of additional Gulfstream large-cabin aircraft.

Qatar's state-owned airliner further committed to using General Electric jet engines and services to power its fleet of Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft.

Chevron-Phillips agreed with Qatar Petroleum to jointly develop and operate a petrochemical complex in Qatar, according to a joint statement provided by the White House that outlined the deals.

The Qatari Defense Ministry additionally committed to purchasing Raytheon's medium-to-long range NASAM and long-range Patriot Systems surface-to-air missile systems.

The exact dollar figure for the deals is not clear, but al-Thani earlier said the U.S. and Qatar are seeking to double their $185 billion trade volume, which he hinted would include increased infrastructure investments from Doha.

Those were not mentioned in the Qatari-U.S. joint statement.

Acting Pentagon Secretary Mark Esper and al-Thani earlier discussed a number of issues at the Pentagon "including the importance of burden sharing, Qatari support to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and the Gulf rift," according to the Pentagon.

"Secretary Esper thanked the Emir for the Qatari offer to improve Al-Udeid Air Base and for hosting U.S. forces," spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement, referring to the sprawling air base the U.S. uses for its regional operations.