China Southern halts sale of Boeing jets on US new-plane freeze

The airline’s move illustrates a knock-on effect from the widening trade standoff, rippling out beyond deals for new products being taxed by the two governments to affect the secondary trade in used aircraft

Published Wed, Apr 16, 2025 · 07:47 AM

China Southern Airlines suspended the sale of 10 used Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, after Beijing’s escalating trade war with the US put supply of aircraft to the mainland at risk.

The airline, one of the country’s Big Three state-owned carriers, had planned to replace the US-made widebodies with larger, newer planes better suited to China Southern’s long-haul network. That approach was upended by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and the retaliatory measures put in place by Beijing over this past weekend.

The airline’s move illustrates a knock-on effect from the widening trade standoff, rippling out beyond deals for new products being taxed by the two governments to affect the secondary trade in used aircraft.

China Southern cited “events impacting the transactions” as a reason for halting the sale, according to notices from the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange posted on Apr 11, the day Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods among other measures. The airline made the decision because it was worried the trade war would hinder its ability to receive more Boeing aircraft, according to Nikkei, which reported on the suspension earlier.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday (Apr 15) that Beijing ordered its airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing jets and asked carriers to stop buying US-made aircraft parts, as the trade war between the two largest economies barrels forward. The US has placed tariffs as high as 145 per cent on Chinese goods, while Beijing has hit American products with levies of 125 per cent – amounts that make new Boeing purchases impractical.

Following the Bloomberg story, Trump weighed in to criticise Chinese leaders with a post on his Truth Social network. He said China “just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft”.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Group is one of the world’s largest carrier groups, with stakes in 10 airlines and operating 932 commercial jets. It carried 165 million passengers and handled 1.8 million tonnes of cargo and mail volume in 2024, according to its most recent financial report. BLOOMBERG

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