Trump says China 'reneged' on Boeing deal after Beijing stops accepting jets

An Air China Boeing 777-300 at Beijing International airport. AFP

China has ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing jets in response to the US decision to impose 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump appeared to confirm the report, saying China has gone back on a major Boeing deal.

“Interestingly, they just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will 'not take possession' of fully committed to aircraft”, Mr Trump wrote in a Truth Social post as trade tensions flared between the world's two largest economies. The Bloomberg report also said Beijing had asked Chinese carriers to pause purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US firms.

The global aerospace industry is in the middle of a full-blown tariff war, with plane-makers, airlines and suppliers reviewing contracts worth billions of dollars. China's top three airlines – Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – had planned to take delivery of 45, 53 and 81 Boeing planes respectively between 2025 and 2027.

China's move to halt purchases of aircraft-related components is expected to raise maintenance costs for the jets flying in the country. The Chinese government is also considering ways to provide assistance to airlines that lease Boeing jets and are facing higher costs, Bloomberg reported.

It was China that first grounded Boeing's 737 Max jets after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 in which nearly 350 people died. China had also suspended most orders and deliveries of the jet in 2019.

The halt in deliveries to China marks yet another setback for Boeing, which is navigating a slow recovery following a challenging year marked by a labour strike, enhanced regulatory scrutiny and persistent supply chain disruptions.