Boeing has ferried two B737-8s due for Xiamen Airlines (MF, Xiamen) out of China to the United States in what appears to be a reaction to President Donald Trump's trade war and bilateral tariffs between his government and China, and the Chinese government's decision to refuse any upcoming Boeing deliveries.
The two B737-8s, N230BE and N242BE, were ferried out of Boeing’s completion centre in Zhoushan in the last few days. The former flew to Guam International, Honolulu, and finally, Seattle Boeing Field on April 18 and 19, ADS-B data shows, while the latter was moved to Guam on April 21 and later onwards to Honolulu.
Last week, China told its airlines not to place new orders for Boeing jets and halt all deliveries of already ordered aircraft and purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from American companies. Juneyao Air (HO, Shanghai Hongqiao) recently deferred the delivery of one B787-9 due to the increased tariffs imposed on US imports.
Separately, The Air Current reported that three B737-8s were being readied for delivery in Zhoushan to two Chinese carriers. Moreover, a different unnamed Chinese airline cancelled its commitment to take delivery of an aircraft through a Chinese lessor, it reported.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows Boeing has 137 undelivered orders to 13 Chinese carriers: Air China has five pending deliveries, Air China Cargo has one, China Eastern Airlines has seven, China Southern Airlines has 35, Donghai Airlines has 12, Hainan Airlines has eight, Juneyao Air has one, Kunming Airlines has one, Okay Airways has 12, Ruili Airlines has 42, Shandong Airlines has one, Shanghai Airlines has three, Shenzhen Airlines has two, and Xiamen Airlines has seven.
Boeing was not immediately available for comment.
Separately, ADS-B data shows that on March 20, 2025, a Chinese-bound B737-8, B-20A3 (msn 61637), was sent to Victorville for storage (it was repositioned to Moses Lake on April 17), and a B787-9, B-20EW (msn 63989), was sent to Fort Worth Meacham. The former sports the livery of Shanghai Airlines and the latter of China Southern Airlines.
The Trump-led administration has imposed tariffs ranging between 145% and 245% on certain products, an escalation that combines 100% tariffs imposed during the Biden administration and a new set of tariffs unveiled during 2025.