Boeing seen dodging real pain from China's tariffs

Beijing

AFTER reading the fine print on China's proposed aircraft tariffs, Boeing Co investors grew less alarmed about the prospect of a trade war. The threatened 25 per cent levy, which is based on an aircraft's weight, targets a generation of Boeing's 737 jetliners that are nearing the end of their production run. All but one model of Boeing's newer 737 Max family would be exempt, according to a company document.

"It appears to us that the specific proposals from China are calibrated carefully to avoid a major impact on Boeing and are therefore intended more as a message to the US administration," Seth Seifman, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co, said Wednesday in a note to clients. Even the prospect that China's tariffs would give an edge to Airbus SE at Boeing's expense is by no means assured, in part because the country typically balances orders between the rivals.