China has reportedly lifted a ban on airlines in the country taking delivery of aircraft from US-based Boeing following talks between the US and China that have eased a trade war between the two countries.
Airlines in China were told last month to stop accepting deliveries of Boeing aircraft due to the ongoing tariff dispute, according to several media outlets.
But now, authorities in China have begun instructing carriers that deliveries of aircraft manufactured in the US can resume, reported newswire Bloomberg.
Air Cargo News has reached out to Boeing for comment.
Officials in China had not previously commented on why Boeing deliveries stopped, and sources had told Reuters they were not aware of formal instructions against taking Boeing planes.
However, Boeing reportedly said last month that customers in China would not take delivery of new planes due to the tariff dispute, and it was looking to resell potentially dozens of aircraft.
Reuters said that in April, at least three jets at Boeing's delivery centre in China were repatriated by Boeing to the US.
This strife over aircraft comes as the air cargo industry has been concerned about delays in the entry-into-service dates of the new generation Boeing 777-8 freighter and the Airbus A350 freighter, as well as other delays of Boeing aircraft parts recently.
The US and China have agreed to a 90-day partial suspension of the tariff war but tensions are far from over and the current situation still means US tariffs on Chinese imports stand at 30% while Beijing’s tariffs on goods from the US stand at 10%.
That said, analysts have previously said that China's need for Boeing jets and other US-made aerospace goods means that any pause on deliveries is not likely to be long-term.
In any case, the situaion hasn't deterred orders. Earlier this month, China Airlines formally ordered four 777-8Fs from Boeing following its announcement in December that it planned to invest in the new generation cargo aircraft model.
