China has ordered its domestic airlines to suspend deliveries of new aircraft from U.S. manufacturer Boeing, a move that further escalates the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The decision comes at a particularly tense moment, just days after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of up to 145% on a wide range of Chinese imports. Beijing responded swiftly with its own tariffs of 125% on American goods, deepening the commercial standoff.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the Chinese government has also instructed national carriers to halt all purchases of aviation equipment and spare parts from American companies — a direct blow to Boeing, which was already struggling to maintain its foothold in the Chinese market.
The new tariffs from Beijing significantly increase the cost of U.S.-made aircraft and components, putting Boeing at a competitive disadvantage. In response, the Chinese government is reportedly considering support measures for leasing companies currently operating Boeing aircraft, as they face rising operational costs.
Although Boeing had previously avoided tariffs during earlier rounds of the trade war under Trump’s first presidency (2017–2021), its presence in China has been shrinking. In 2022, 25% of the company’s international deliveries were bound for China; by 2023, that figure had dropped to just 9%. Analysts had already flagged the U.S. aviation sector as one of the most vulnerable in the event of an intensified trade conflict.
Now, the Virginia-based aerospace giant may see its aircraft become more expensive compared to those of its main rivals: Europe’s Airbus and China’s state-backed Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), which is gaining traction in the domestic market with strong government support.
The move coincides with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s tour of Southeast Asia, where he has strongly advocated for free trade and presented China as a source of “stability and certainty” in a “turbulent world.”
During a visit to Vietnam on Monday, Xi met with Communist Party Secretary General To Lam and emphasized that, as beneficiaries of economic globalization, both China and Vietnam must “jointly oppose unilateral bullying, uphold the global free trade system, and ensure stable global supply and industrial chains.”
President Trump harshly criticized the meeting, claiming that China and Vietnam were trying to “figure out how to screw the United States of America.”
Xi’s tour continues on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he is expected to discuss a potential free trade agreement between China and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The trip will conclude with a visit to Cambodia.
ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn told Chinese state media that the proposed agreement would remove many tariffs between China and member states. “We’ll reduce more tariffs to zero in many cases, and then extend that to all sectors,” he said in an interview.
On Monday, Xi warned that protectionism “leads nowhere” and that “there will be no winners” in a trade war — a clear message directed at Washington’s latest measures.
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