A Boeing airliner has returned to the U.S. from China, according to a new report, after President Donald Trump said Beijing had “reneged” on a deal involving the aircraft manufacturer, America’s biggest exporter by dollar value.

Why It Matters

Trump has embarked on a bitter trade war with China, exempting Beijing from a pause on a broad raft of “reciprocal tariffs” leveled at dozens of the U.S.’ trading partners. A series of tit-for-tat exchanges saw Washington hike tariffs on Chinese imports by up to an additional 145 percent.

The White House says this brings total levies on some Chinese imports to 245 percent “as a result of its retaliatory actions.” Beijing has slapped U.S. imports with a 125-percent duty in return.

“China does not want to fight these wars, but is not scared of them,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., told Newsweek in a statement earlier this month. Beijing lodged complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the taxes.

What To Know

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft returned to the aerospace giant’s Seattle facility on Saturday evening local time, decorated with the livery of China’s Fujian-based Xiamen Airlines, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The aircraft was one of a number of MAX jets at the company’s Zhoushan plant in eastern China waiting for final tweaks before being handed to a Chinese operator, the news agency reported.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Beijing had ordered airlines based in the country not to accept any more Boeing aircraft deliveries and pause purchases of aircraft-related components and equipment from the U.S., citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Approximately 10 737 MAX aircraft were scheduled to enter operation with Chinese airlines, including two for Xiamen, the outlet reported.

In a post to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump said Beijing had “just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft.”

A Chinese operator receiving a Boeing jet—worth in the region of $55 million—could be severely impacted by the tariff war, Reuters reported, citing aviation consultancy IBA.

The 737 MAX reportedly stopped in Guam and Hawaii for refueling over the course of the 5,000-mile journey back to the U.S.

Newsweek has reached out to Boeing and Xiamen for comment via email.

CBS News reported on Friday that Trump officials were considering forming a new working group to quickly manage supply chain issues stemming from the tariffs on China, if there is no breakthrough with Beijing, citing multiple anonymous sources.

What People Are Saying

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Friday: “We urge the U.S. to immediately cease its maximum-pressure tactics, halt coercion and extortion, and resolve differences with China through equal-footed dialogue on the basis of mutual respect.”

The White House said earlier this week that the “ball is in China’s court” to make a trade dea. “We don’t have to make a deal with them,” Trump said in a statement publicized by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.