The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ordered by Chinese airline Xiamen Airlines has returned to the United States. According to news agency Reuters, the plane, which was already painted in the colors of the Chinese airline, landed at the Boeing Field in Seattle on the evening of April 20th, as reported by online flight data from AirNav Radar. Reuters reported that this is the second Boeing 737 MAX, the most popular model from Boeing, that China has returned to the United States. The plane reportedly arrived at the Zhoushan assembly center just over a month ago, waiting for the completion of preparations for its entry into service. It is not known which party made the decision to return the plane, according to Reuters.
Prior to this, the US broadcaster CNBC reported, citing data from Flightradar24, that a Boeing 737 MAX departed from Zhoushan on April 18th.
A spokesperson for Xiamen Airlines confirmed that two aircraft ordered for the airline had flown to the United States, but refused to comment on the reason for the return.
For Chinese airlines, the mutual tariffs between the United States and the Chinese Empire could significantly impact the costs of aircraft. The list price of each Boeing 737 MAX is estimated to be around $55 million and due to the tariffs, the costs per aircraft could more than double, according to Reuters.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Chinese authorities, in the context of the trade war with the United States, had demanded that airlines refuse to accept deliveries of Boeing aircraft. Simultaneously, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it had no information on the ban on the import of Boeing aircraft into the country.
Following the Bloomberg report, President Donald Trump expressed on Truth Social that China “just canceled the big Boeing deal and said they won’t take possession of the fully promised planes.”
Since February 2025, the United States has imposed tariffs on goods from China and in mid-April, the US tariffs reached 145 percent. China then adjusted the tariffs accordingly, raising them to 125 percent. The White House warned subsequently that China should expect tariffs on imports into the United States to reach up to 245 percent.
Xiamen Airlines is a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines, a state-owned airline that belongs to the “Big Three” of the country.