The first C919 delivered to China Eastern Airlines, the launch operator of the model, in 2022. Credit: Comac
Chinese airlines have started sending Boeing jets back to the US, with a 737 Max landing on April 20th in Seattle, at the group’s operations hub. The first return happened after China ordered its airlines to stop accepting Boeing deliveries as part of the backlash against the US tariffs on Chinese-made goods.
But that’s not all—three 737 Max 8s, being prepped at Boeing’s Zhoushan facility for two Chinese carriers, were apparently sent back to the US last week, according to The Air Current.
The plane that flew back to Seattle, sporting Xiamen’s livery, was one of the 737 Max jets waiting at Zhoushan for final assembly and delivery.
Analysts warn that if China’s Boeing ban continues, it could backfire on Chinese plane-maker Comac, before it’s even close to being globally competitive. The big names in aviation are eyeing China as the top commercial aviation market of the future. For years, Boeing has been America’s top industrial exporter to China.
In 2024, the US sent almost $12 billion worth of planes, spacecraft, and parts to China, with practically no imports in return. To offer its airlines an alternative, the Chinese government has poured billions into Comac, based in Shanghai, to build domestic equivalents of Boeing and Airbus commercial jets.
Trump holds significant power
US President Donald Trump holds significant power to stop American companies from backing Comac: back in 2020, during the trade war, the tycoon even considered blocking it. And, based on repeated US national security concerns, he could revisit the aviation ban.
In short, by involving planes in this trade war, Beijing risks exposing one of its weak spots and highlighting the US’s control over Comac: the C919 model is only airworthy thanks to critical tech provided by US companies like GE Aerospace, Honeywell, and RTX.
And just to throw in a little extra: President Xi Jinping, on his Southeast Asia tour to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, wrapped up in mid-April—using a Boeing 747-8 (registered B-2479), part of Air China’s VIP fleet for state flights.
What is China thinking?
The Chinese government confirmed on April 17th that it will “ignore” the “tariff number games” played by the United States after the White House previously announced that the Asian country faces tariffs of up to 245%.
China’s Foreign Ministry stated in a communiqué that “the repeated imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China by the United States has become a number game that has no practical economic significance.”
The Ministry further asserted that these measures by Washington “will expose the US tactics of weaponizing tariffs and using them as tools” and accused the US of “intimidation and coercion.”
“There are no winners in a tariff or trade war. China does not want to fight this war, but it is not afraid of it either,” the Foreign Ministry reiterated, while promising that the Asian country will “counterattack resolutely.”
The trade war initiated by Trump escalated on April 2nd with the announcement of “reciprocal tariffs” on the rest of the world, a measure that he reversed a week later due to falling markets and the rising cost of US debt financing.
At the same time that he softened his offensive with most countries by applying a generalized 10% tariff, he decided to increase tariffs on China in response to its retaliation.
Washington had imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese imports, while Beijing has raised its tariffs on US products to 125%.
On the other hand, the US decided to exempt many Chinese tech products from tariffs, although Trump announced tariffs on semiconductors that will be applied “in the near future.”
