Second Boeing jet starts return from China tracker shows

SEOUL - A second Boeing jet intended for use by a Chinese airline was heading back to the United States on April 21, flight tracking data showed, in what appears to be another victim of the tit-for-tat bilateral tariffs launched by President Donald Trump in his global trade offensive.

The 737 Max 8 landed in the US territory of Guam on April 21, after leaving Boeing’s Zhoushan completion centre near Shanghai, data from flight tracking website AirNav Radar showed.

Guam is one of the stops such flights make on the 8,000km journey across the Pacific between Boeing’s US production hub in Seattle and the Zhoushan completion centre, where planes are ferried by Boeing for final work and delivery to a Chinese carrier.

On April 20, a 737 Max painted with the livery for China’s Xiamen Airlines made the return journey from Zhoushan and landed at Seattle’s Boeing Field.

A spokesperson for Xiamen Airlines on April 21 confirmed that two planes marked for the carrier had gone to the US, but declined to provide a reason.

It is not clear which party made the decision for the two aircraft to return to the US.

Boeing could find a replacement buyer in Malaysia Airlines, however, which has said it was talking to the manufacturer about acquiring jets that may become available should Chinese airlines stop taking deliveries.

Mr Trump in April raised baseline tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent.

In retaliation, China has imposed a 125 per cent tariff on US goods.

A Chinese airline taking delivery of a Boeing jet could be crippled by the tariffs, given that a new 737 Max has a market value of around US$55 million (S$72 million),according to IBA, an aviation consultancy.

The plane flew from Seattle to Zhoushan just under a month