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Amid escalating trade tensions between China and the US, Beijing has ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing jets, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The latest development comes amid the trade face-off between the US and China following the Donald Trump administration’s imposition of 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, with Beijing hitting back with retaliatory tariffs of its own.
Beijing has also asked that Chinese carriers halt any purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US companies, the report said, citing sources.
According to the global aerospace company, Boeing airplanes have been the mainstay of China’s civil aviation passenger and cargo transportation systems for more than 50 years.
Boeing is the largest customer of China’s aviation manufacturing industry, with an estimated total of more than 10,000 Boeing airplanes reportedly flying with Chinese parts. According to the company, Boeing’s activity in China contributes more than USD 1.5 billion annually in direct support of China’s economy, including suppliers, joint ventures, operations, training, and research and development investment.
Last week, China announced retaliatory tariffs of 125 percent on goods from the US entering China.
The Trump administration, however, on Saturday exempted electronics like phones, computers, and other electronics from the reciprocal tariffs imposed on other nations, including China.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is currently on a visit to countries in Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. In Vietnam, Xi called on China and Vietnam to oppose what Beijing sees as America’s “unilateral bullying” and uphold global free trade.
Trump, on his part, has maintained that China was focused on how to harm the US.
“That’s a lovely meeting. Meeting like, trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?” Trump reportedly said on the meeting between Xi and his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam.
