It’s naive to think that imposing a 145% tariff on Chinese goods would have no repercussions on American companies trying to sell products overseas, but most people didn’t write “The Art of the Deal.” A Boeing 737 Max at the planemaker’s completion facility in Zhoushan, China wasn’t delivered to its Chinese customer and flew back to the United States. The jet was one in a three-plane batch sent across the Pacific in March, but President Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs provoked the Chinese government to call on its airlines to boycott Boeing.
The undelivered Boeing 737 Max was spotted in Guam, signalling that the aircraft would be returning to Seattle, Reuters reports. This will likely be the first of many dropped orders. The American aviation giant was preparing ten planes for delivery, with their locations split between Seattle and Zhoushan. Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, the country’s Big Three carriers, are slated to receive 179 Boeing planes through 2027. As a point of reference, Boeing delivered 130 commercial flights in total during the first quarter of this year. Some of the orders placed by Chinese carriers have already been taken by customers in other growing markets, like India. However, Boeing can’t afford to have other countries follow in China’s direction.
China’s Boeing boycott could self-destructive, but better than the tariffs
The Chinese government encouraged its country’s carriers to sever all existing ties with Boeing, including terminating leases and not importing parts to maintain the Boeing planes in their fleets. While there isn’t a formal ban or boycott, the government imposed a requirement that it must approve the delivery of Boeing planes going forward. China’s Big Three airlines are state-owned entities. The White House has taken notice and is undoubtedly feeling the pressure. Trump took to Truth Social earlier this week to say, “They just reneged on the big Boeing deal.”
It’s debatable whether or not China’s commercial aviation sector could weather the tariff storm. COMAC, the country’s domestic plane manufacturer, debuted the C919 in 2023 as a 737 Max competitor. However, the Chinese-built plane is dependent on American-made components. Also, COMAC doesn’t have the production capacity to replace the Boeing planes in Chinese fleets. Only 16 C919s have been delivered so far. In fact, Boeing’s Zhoushan completion center is a joint venture with COMAC. Airbus might emerge as the only winner in this scenario as the European giant has an A320 assembly plant in China. The boycott is self-destructive, but not as financially destructive as paying double the previous price for American planes and parts.
