China Ready to Support Cooperation Between Chinese and American Companies

China is ready to support ‘normal business cooperation’ between Chinese and American companies, and hopes that the US will also listen to feedback from the business sector, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce stated on Tuesday following media reports about rejected deliveries of Boeing aircraft. In early April, US President Donald Trump imposed ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on China, and China responded in kind.

The escalation of the US-China trade war has resulted in the increase of US tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent and those of China on American goods to 125 percent. Bloomberg News reported last week that Chinese buyers had refused to take delivery of three Boeing aircraft due to tariffs, and a few days later, Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg confirmed this information.

– Many of our customers in China have emphasized that they will not take delivery of the aircraft due to tariffs – Ortberg said last Wednesday.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday that they are aware of media reports regarding the rejected deliveries of Boeing aircraft.

– China and the US have long cooperated in the civil aviation sector, to mutual benefit, which has significantly strengthened bilateral trade and personnel exchanges – the spokesperson emphasized on Tuesday.

– The US recklessly uses tariffs as a weapon, which has disrupted the stability of the global industrial and supply chain and destabilized the international air transport market. Many companies are unable to conduct normal trade and investment activities, and both Chinese airlines and Boeing are suffering significant damage – the spokesperson added.

China is ready to continue supporting normal business cooperation between Chinese and American companies and hopes that the US listens to the messages from businesses to ensure a stable and predictable environment for normal trade and investment, he said. China’s share in Boeing’s backlog of unfulfilled orders for commercial aircraft is about 10 percent, and the company planned to deliver about 50 new aircraft to Chinese customers by the end of the year, said Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer Brian West last week.

Meanwhile, China has exempted certain categories of aircraft equipment, jet engines, aircraft landing gear, and engine housings from tariffs on imports of American goods, said the head of the French company Safran last Friday, which, together with American GE Aerospace, produces jet engines and supplies them to the Chinese aircraft manufacturer COMAC. The exemption does not apply to finished aircraft.

At the end of March, before US President Donald Trump imposed ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on China, and Beijing responded in kind, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met in Beijing with Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson.

– The future of China and the US is not in separation and the severing of industrial ties; it is of fundamental importance for both sides to continue economic and trade cooperation for mutual benefit – the Chinese minister said on that occasion.

It is to be hoped that Boeing will play a positive role and continue to guarantee the stability of the ecosystem of the global aviation sector while simultaneously supporting the development of Sino-American relations, said a Chinese official, according to a statement on the official website of the Ministry of Commerce. The head of the American aviation giant emphasized on that occasion that business development requires a predictable and stable environment.

The US and China have their strengths, but they depend on each other, and companies expect to nurture cooperation for mutual benefit, Nelson concluded. The American company estimated in August of last year that China would double the number of commercial aircraft by 2043 to keep pace with strong demand for passenger and cargo transport, the Chinese newspaper Global Times reminds.