WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on April 15 that China has gone back on a major Boeing deal, after a news report that Beijing ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of the US aviation giant’s jets.

Mr Trump’s comments on social media followed a Bloomberg news report about the halt. The report also said that Beijing requested Chinese carriers to pause purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US firms.

“Interestingly, they just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft,” said Mr Trump in a Truth Social post, referring to China as trade tensions flared between the world’s two biggest economies.

But he did not provide further details on the Boeing pact he was referring to.

Although Mr Trump has slapped new tariffs on friend and foe since returning to the presidency this year, he reserved his heaviest blows for China – imposing additional 145 per cent levies on many Chinese imports.

Mr Trump took aim at Beijing again on April 15, saying on Truth Social that China did not fully fulfil an earlier trade deal. He appeared to be referencing a pact that marked a truce in both sides’ escalating tariffs war during his first term.

The US president said China bought only “a portion of what they agreed to buy,” charging that Beijing had “zero respect” for his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration.

Mr Trump also vowed to protect US farmers in the same post, noting that farmers were often “put on the Front Line with our adversaries, such as China,” when there were trade tussles.

Since the start of the year, Mr Trump has imposed steep duties on imports from China, alongside a 10 per cent “baseline” tariff on many US trading partners.

His administration recently wid...