The Chinese government has ordered all of the country’s domestic airlines to halt all deliveries of Boeing aircraft as President Donald Trump’s trade war continues to escalate.
China has also instructed airlines to stop purchasing airplane parts from U.S.-based companies, according to Bloomberg. The order comes after China boosted its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to 125% in response to the U.S. increasing its tariffs to 145%.
Boeing is scheduled to ship about 10 737 Max aircraft to Chinese carriers, including China Southern Airlines, Air China, and Xiamen Airlines, according to the report. Some of those planes’ payment and delivery paperwork may have already been completed before the trade war expanded.
Boeing stock fell 1.7% to $156.58 in early trading after the report. Boeing stock has overall been down about 6% since Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, in which he enacted tariffs on nearly every country before pausing them less than a week later.
Boeing is one of the largest exporters from the United States, meaning it is highly susceptible to retaliatory tariffs from other nations. In 2024, about 70% of sales from the company’s commercial airplane division were to entities outside the U.S. Before the global grounding of the Boeing 737 after two fatal crashes in 2018, China accounted for roughly 25% of the company’s deliveries.
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Trump originally enacted a 34% “reciprocal” tariff on China, which was later raised to a 145% tariff on all Chinese goods in response to Chinese retaliation.
In Europe, Ryanair, the continent’s largest low-cost carrier, warned that it may delay deliveries of Boeing aircraft if U.S. tariffs make them more expensive.