A new Boeing Co 737 MAX landed back in China yesterday, flight tracking data showed, a sign the US planemaker was resuming deliveries to Chinese customers as Beijing and Washington ease their tariff war.
Boeing, which halted deliveries of new planes to China in April as the world’s two largest economies ramped up tariffs on each other, said at the end of last month that deliveries would resume this month after the tariffs were temporarily scaled back for 90 days.
The plane, painted in the livery of Xiamen Airlines Co (廈門航空), landed at Boeing’s Zhoushan completion center after leaving Seattle on Saturday and halting to refuel in Hawaii and Guam as it crossed the Pacific.
Photo: Reuters
China represents about 10 percent of Boeing’s commercial backlog, and is an important and growing aviation market.
At least three 737 MAX jets were repatriated by Boeing to the US in April from Zhoushan, where they were to receive final touches before delivery to Chinese carriers. The first to return was the one that landed yesterday.
Boeing has previously said customers in China would not take delivery of new planes due to tariffs, and it was looking to resell potentially dozens of aircraft.
However, the planemaker had not sent the planes elsewhere, despite wanting to cut inventory.
In April, Boeing said it had planned for 50 jets to go to Chinese carriers during the rest of the year, with 41 in production or prebuilt.
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