China’s commerce ministry said on April 29 that the regime is willing to support normal business cooperation with American companies, days after Chinese airlines canceled Boeing aircraft orders amid a tariff standoff with the United States.
The Chinese commerce ministry also blamed the halt in plane deliveries on U.S. tariff hikes.
It urged Washington to “listen to businesses” and restore “a stable, predictable environment for trade and investment,” claiming tariffs had undermined the stability of global industry and supply chains and disrupted the air-transport market.
U.S. officials have not responded to the latest statement publicly.
The plea came just days after the Chinese regime ordered Chinese airlines to suspend purchases of Boeing aircraft and returned three newly built 737 MAX jets to the United States.
The planes—two for Xiamen Airlines and one for Air China—have already been flown back, and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg confirmed last week that Chinese airlines have stopped accepting deliveries.
While retaliating against U.S. duties, Beijing is quietly compiling a list of U.S.-made goods to be exempted from its own 125 percent retaliatory tariffs and has asked companies to identify critical imports they need duty-free, according to American Chamber of Commerce in China President Michael Hart.
Hart said that tariff waivers already cover some pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, the chief executive of French aircraft engine maker Safran said that Beijing had granted tariff exemptions on “a certain number of aerospace equipment parts,” including engines and landing gear.
The new list effectively opens 11 additional industries to overseas capital at a time when U.S. tariffs are adding strain to an economy already hobbled by weak consumption and a deep property-sector debt crisis.
Boeing Shrugs Off the Standoff—for Now
Boeing reported better-than-expected first-quarter results on April 23, narrowing its net loss to $31 million from $355 million a year earlier. Shares jumped 6 percent that day to $172.37 at the close and reached $183.24 at the close on April 30.The major government contract likely contributed to the company’s optimistic outlook.
During the first-quarter earnings call on April 23, Boeing’s CEO said jets once earmarked for China can be redirected “to people who want them,” noting that the order backlog now tops $500 billion.
U.S.-based economist Davy J. Wong told The Epoch Times that Beijing’s decision to block Boeing deliveries amounts to “strategic self-harm.”
He said China’s home-grown C919 airliner still relies on U.S. and European avionics, engines, and hydraulics, making a full decoupling impossible.
Politically driven cancellations could stall C919 production and maintenance, “deepening doubts about the reliability of China’s aviation market,” Wong said, adding that lessors, financiers, insurers, and suppliers might now reassess China’s stability as a long-term partner.
“Most of China’s fleet is still Boeing,” Wong said, noting that cutting off access to maintenance, parts, and upgrades would drive up costs and strain the entire civil aviation system.
He said a litmus test would be Xiamen Airlines, a near-exclusive Boeing operator. If its orders are fully canceled, the dispute will have moved beyond tariffs into “a full confrontation over industrial leadership and geostrategic positioning,” an escalation Beijing may not actually want, he said.
Shen Ming-shih, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times that the Chinese cancellation of aircraft delivery will sting less than Beijing hopes.
“Global demand for the 737 MAX remains strong, production slots are sold out for years, while China accounts for only about 10 percent of Boeing’s commercial backlog,” he said, meaning Boeing can likely place the returned jets with new buyers quickly.
