A Boeing 737 MAX 8, the second jet intended for use by a Chinese airline to be returned to its manufacturer, lands at Boeing Field, as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs with China, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2025. India and many other countries reportedly expressed interest in buying the planes REUTERS/David Ryder
Washington- Boeing is looking to resell potentially dozens of planes locked out of China by tariffs after repatriating a third jet to the United States rather than store it without willing buyers.
The move to prevent a repeat of the costly build-up of undelivered jets seen during past fluctuations in Chinese imports comes as the plane maker redoubles efforts to save cash and pay off debt by selling off part of its services business.
Boeing took the rare step of publicly flagging the potential aircraft sale during an analyst call on Wednesday, saying there would be no shortage of buyers in a tight jet market.
“Customers are calling, asking for additional airplanes,” CFO Brian West said. Such negotiations are usually kept tightly under wraps.
“Due to the tariffs, many of our customers in China have indicated that they will not take delivery,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said during the call.
Industry sources said the comments were seen as a message to Beijing and Washington that the tariff war between the world’s two largest economies was set to impose a heavy cost as airlines try to renew fleets and Boeing recovers from internal crises.
U.S. President Donald Trump this month raised baseline tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. In retaliation, China imposed a 125% tariff on U.S. goods.
However, West cautioned that things could change quickly.
Washington signaled openness to de-escalating the trade war this week, stating that high tariffs between the United States and China are not sustainable.
Potential new customers include India or other fast-growing markets like Latin America and Southeast Asia but discussions have barely begun, industry sources said.
But finding new customers after planes have been built “can be a costly endeavour”, industry publication Leeham News warned.
Experts say many components, such as cabins, are picked by airlines and switching to a new configuration can cost millions of dollars. Doing so may also create a tangle of contractual commitments and need the co-operation of the original buyer.
Ortberg said China was the only country where Boeing was facing this issue.
“We’re not going to continue to build aircraft for customers who will not take them,” Ortberg said.
RETURN TRIP
Boeing’s public stand follows a threat from tariffs to the aerospace industry’s decade-old duty-free trading status. Senior industry officials say, however, there is no clear evidence of a reported official Chinese government ban on U.S. jets.
The move to repatriate and re-market jets stands in contrast to a build-up seen during an almost five-year import freeze on 737 MAX jets into China and previous trade tensions.
Two jets that had been ferried to China in March for delivery to Xiamen Airlines returned to Boeing’s production hub in Seattle in the past week.
Reuters