 "A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. Reuters")
China has told its airlines to stop receiving new aircraft deliveries from US aircraft maker Boeing, Bloomberg News reported.
This move comes as the trade conflict between Beijing and Washington continues to worsen, leading to a fierce trade war between the two nations.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, have been imposing heavy tariffs on each other’s goods. The US has now placed duties as high as 145 per cent on Chinese imports.
In retaliation, Beijing has responded by slapping retaliatory tariffs of up to 125 per cent on American products, accusing the US of unfair practices and “unilaterally bullying” other nations.
According to Bloomberg, China has also asked its airlines to stop buying aircraft parts and related equipment from American companies. The government may also step in to support Chinese airlines that lease Boeing jets and now face rising costs.
These back-and-forth tariffs are expected to make importing planes and components from the US much more expensive, as the two nations are fighting a war with tariffs as weapons.
Meanwhile, despite freezing further reciprocal tariff hikes on other nations for 90-days last week, President Trump hasn’t offered China any real relief.
US officials on Friday announced exemptions from the latest duties against China and others for a range of high-end tech goods such as smartphones, semiconductors and computers.