Chinese government orders country's airlines to suspend deliveries of Boeing aircraft
Chinese airlines have been banned from receiving new Boeing aircraft by the Xi Jiping government, Bloomberg sources said.
The move is a response to the United States imposing 145% tariffs on Chinese products amid the trade war started by President Donald Trump.
Chinese carriers are also expected to suspend purchases of Boeing aircraft components. The government, however, has not yet reached an alternative solution to the rising costs of maintaining the jets.
The trade escalation has deepened with China retaliating against the United States by imposing 125% tariffs on products imported from the country.
The three main Chinese carriers, Air China, China Southern and China Eastern Airlines, are controlled by the government and have large orders for Boeing aircraft.
Combined, the companies have 179 commercial jets scheduled for delivery by 2027.
Boeing, on the other hand, has been unable to close new deals with Chinese airlines for several years, amid the safety crisis that hit the planemaker after the two fatal crashes with the 737 MAX.
Supply chain spread across the world
Trump intends to reindustrialize the United States through actions that force companies to open factories in the country.
The aerospace industry, however, is highly globalized and the supply chain is spread across many countries, including China.
Faced with a 20% tariff for members of the European Union, Airbus has said it may direct deliveries of its aircraft to markets other than the United States.
The European manufacturer has a huge backlog of orders with more than 8,700 commercial jets and could benefit from deals with the Chinese, whose state-owned COMAC factory is not yet large enough to supply the domestic market.
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Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
