A Boeing jet made for China’s Xiamen Airlines was returned to Boeing’s American production hub as the American aviation giant finds itself caught up in the trade war.
According to online flight records, a 737 Max flew from Zhoushan and landed in Seattle on Sunday night local time.
Reuters first reported the plane landing, saying that it was among several 737 Max jets that had been waiting at Boeing’s Zhoushan completion center for final work and delivery to Chinese airlines.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported in 2020 that Xiamen Airlines cut its flights to Seattle in 2019. Previously, it flew Boeing 787s on the route.
It is unclear why the plane was returned to the US and whether more aircraft bound for Chinese airlines will be sent back.
Data from AirNav Radar showed another Boeing 737 Max from Zhoushan heading to Guam on Monday morning local time — a frequent stop for planes traveling back to the US.
Boeing and Xiamen Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Last week, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources, that China has ordered its airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing planes and American aircraft parts, as a new measure against its trade war with the US.
After the Bloomberg story, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that China “just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft.”
Xiamen Airlines is a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines, a state-owned carrier that is among the country’s “Big Three” airlines.
On April 11, China Southern Airlines stopped the sale of 10 of its used Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner planes, per a filing with Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange. China Southern had planned to replace its Dreamliners with bigger and newer planes, but it reversed its decision.
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The state of the trade war
The US-China trade war escalated quickly in Trump’s second term.
China has curbed the import of Hollywood films and added tariffs to various US goods. The US put restrictions on Nvidia selling its H20 chips to China, a move analysts said is essentially a ban on exporting those chips.
China has a 125% duty on American goods. The White House said Chinese products face a levy of up to 245%.
China is an important market for Boeing, which has been recovering after a string of financial and reputational losses last year. Any imposition on deliveries threatens its market share as it competes with Europe’s Airbus and newer entrants from China.
In its 2024 annual report filed in February, Boeing called China a “significant market” that would be affected by “deterioration in geopolitical or trade relations.” Boeing did not break down the company’s revenue by region.
Boeing is among the US’s 100 most valuable companies and employed 172,000 people as of December. Its stock is down 8.5% this year.