Boeing Co. has begun shipping commercial jets to China for the first time since early April, indicating a reopening of trade flows despite the long-simmering tariff war between the U.S. and Asia’s biggest economy. 

A Boeing 737 Max registered N230BE took off for Hawaii on Friday morning, according to Flightradar24 flight data. It is the first stop in a journey across the Pacific to the U.S. planemaker’s center in Zhoushan, China where it typically finalizes delivery of that model for domestic customers.

The pending resumption of China-bound Boeing planes to one of the world’s largest aviation markets comes after sparring between Washington and Beijing over the licensing of rare-earth minerals and semiconductors.

A Boeing representative declined to comment.

Under U.S. President Donald Trump, aerospace has become increasingly enmeshed in negotiations over tariffs, with agreements punctuated by Boeing jet orders. The stakes were brought into focus this week after Bloomberg reported that China is considering placing an order for hundreds of aircraft built by European rival Airbus SE as soon as July.

The Boeing 737 Max jet took off at around 10 a.m. Seattle time on June 6, according to Flightradar24 data. The plane departed from King County International Airport-Boeing Field, south of downtown Seattle, heading to Kailua-Kona in Hawaii, the data showed. 

Previously, planes registered as N230BE had flown to Boeing’s China delivery center in Zhoushan and back to Seattle when Beijing asked its airlines to reject delivery of the U.S.-made jets.

Chinese government officials on May 12 lifted a ban on airlines taking delivery of Boeing planes after striking a truce with the U.S. that temporarily slashed tariffs on each side. China reduced its 125% duties on U.S. goods to 10%, while the U.S. agreed to drop the combined 145% levies on most Chinese imports to 30%.

But the accord struck in Geneva is for 90 days, leaving Boeing and its Chinese customers at risk of more trade gyrations. There’s been added uncertainty as the White House moved to impose new restrictions on U.S. technology shared with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd., China’s planemaker, and the jet it created to challenge Boeing and Airbus.

China’s airlines have been cautious about resuming U.S. imports. Delivery activity has only recently stepped up at Boeing’s Seattle facilities, including jets for Air China, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, according to Aviation.flights, a website that tracks plane movements at the manufacturer.

At stake for Boeing is the opportunity to finally clear its inventory of already built aircraft, a step to improving its finances. The sparring has also left in limbo the first major aircraft order from China since Trump visited Beijing in 2017.

Both sides have a mutual interest in preserving commerce around aerospace, which traditionally has generated large trade surpluses for the U.S.

China’s airlines can’t rely solely on Boeing’s European rival, Airbus, or its domestic upstart to provide the aircraft they need to expand operations. Planebuilder Comac also needs U.S.-made engines, avionics and other technology to build its C919 jetliner.

Boeing had expected to deliver another 50 planes to China when the latest trade spat erupted in April, with Beijing countering Trump’s new levies by hiking tariffs that priced the U.S.-made jets out of the market for Chinese carriers.

With demand for new aircraft far-outstripping supply, Boeing has indicated that it’s willing to find new takers if its China-bound aircraft get caught up in the trade wrangling. 

But shopping the aircraft might jeopardize its ability to reach near-term deliveries, analyst Kristine Liwag of Morgan Stanley, said in a May 16 report to clients.