Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company is working with China to retrieve the planes it sent to the country amid the rise in tariff war between China and the US.
Autoberg said in an Interview with CNBC Boeing has three planes “ready for delivery” to China. Two of them had already been returned, but the third one was in the process of returning to the US, he said.
“In fact, they stopped delivering aircraft due to the customs environment,” Autoberg said. “There are around 50 planes in my plans to go to China this year, so it’s going to be pretty practical with what we’re doing here for planes that haven’t been built yet.”
Ortberg said the company could redirect the plane to other customers as there are plenty of other buyers looking for the largest aircraft.
“We’re not going to wait too long,” he said of the new client. “I’m not going to derail our… company recovery.”
Earlier this month, China ordered airlines to halt delivery from Boeing, amid the country’s front and back of President Trump over tariffs.
Trump has collected 145% of the goods from China that have travelled back and forth on US Trump with 125% tariffs, but recently it has shown that high taxes can be reversed on China when he reaches a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Boeing’s shares fell 1.46% after China demanded that it cease delivery from the company, according to the New York Stock Exchange.
China has doubled its promise to oppose US tariffs, causing a tense exchange between the two countries, while others are trying to negotiate a deal with Trump.
After experiencing most aircraft-related incidents last year, Boeing tried to make up for its lost status.
Autoberg said on Wednesday that some Trump tariffs have “downs” but that the company will “control” through the input tariff environment.
“The bigger problem is making sure the supply chain is healthy. We continue to make sure the supply chain is delivering and the tariff environment doesn’t slow things down in the supply chain.
He said Boeing is working with suppliers to see if it can help the company make it through tariffs.
