Sources close to the Beijing government have reported it, but official confirmation is awaited. To date, at least three Boeing aircraft on delivery have been sent back to the USA

Following the trade truce announced yesterday, May 12, 2025, between China and the United States (see AVIONEWS), rumors emerge that Beijing has informally communicated to its carriers the possibility of resuming deliveries of new Boeing aircraft. The news, reported by authoritative international financial media, is based on anonymous sources close to the Chinese government and the aviation sector.

This potential easing of restrictions comes after China imposed a blockade last April on the acceptance of new deliveries of Boeing aircraft and the import of US components, in response to the increase in tariffs on Chinese goods by the United States (see AVIONEWS 1, 2 ). As a tangible sign of this escalation, at least three Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, ready for delivery to Chinese carriers, had been sent back to the United States from Boeing's completion center in Zhoushan.

The trade truce announced yesterday includes a 90-day suspension of a significant portion of the punitive tariffs the two countries had imposed on each other. The United States will reportedly reduce tariffs on Chinese goods, which had reached 145 percent, to 30 percent. China will similarly lower tariffs on US products from 125 percent to 10 percent. The drastic reduction, amounting to an overall cut of 115 percentage points, is aimed at creating a more favorable environment for the resumption of trade talks and preventing further escalation of the trade war between the two powers.

While there has yet to be an official press release from the Chinese government or the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) confirming the lifting of the ban, sources such as "Bloomberg" suggest that airlines and relevant agencies have been informally informed of the potential resumption of deliveries.

This, if confirmed, would represent a great sigh of relief for the Seattle giant Boeing, which despite having received signals of interest in acquiring the aircraft rejected by Beijing (see AVIONEWS 1 and 2), had nevertheless seen business on the Chinese market blocked. We now have to wait for a formal communication from the Chinese authorities to have definitive certainty of this turning point, for now short-term.