China has lifted its ban on airlines taking delivery of Boeing aircraft following a temporary agreement between the US and China to reduce steep tariffs, according to Bloomberg News.
Officials in Beijing have started to tell domestic carriers and government agencies this week that deliveries of aircraft made in the U.S. can resume, Bloomberg said.
In April, at least three jets at Boeing’s delivery center in China were returned to the United States.
Boeing said customers in China would not take delivery of new planes due to tariffs, and it was looking to resell potentially dozens of aircraft.
On Monday Washington and Beijing agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs between the world’s two biggest economies of over 100% during a 90-day negotiation period following weekend talks in Geneva.
Boeing declined to comment on the Bloomberg report. China’s Civil Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China represents about 10% of Boeing’s commercial backlog and is an important and growing aviation market.
Boeing executives said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call that the company had planned for 50 jets to go to Chinese carriers this year, with 41 in production or pre-built.
While Boeing had said other airlines are interested in taking rejected Chinese planes, the planemaker has hesitated to send the jets elsewhere despite being keen to bring down high inventory levels.
Seating, for one, was an obstacle since seats were chosen and purchased by the Chinese airlines.
Chinese customers are expected to take 25 out of 30 remaining 737 MAX jets built before 2023 that have not yet been delivered, Boeing said.
At least four 777 freighter planes are also in production for Chinese carriers, according to a source familiar with the matter and aircraft tracking database Aviation Flights Group.
Beijing two weeks ago said Chinese airlines and Boeing had been severely affected by U.S.-imposed tariffs.
China had already granted exemptions from the high tariffs to some aerospace equipment parts, including engines and landing gear, before Monday’s agreement.
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