GE Aerospace Cleared to Resume Sales to China. The Stock Is Down.

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd. (Comac) can buy GE Aerospace engines again, according to a report. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

GE Aerospace can ship its engines to China again. That isn’t giving the stock a boost—yet.

Over the weekend, Reuters reported that the U.S. government allowed the maker of commercial jet engines to resume engine shipments to China’s airplane maker Comac. A pause was reported in May amid rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

GE Aerospace didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Comac C919 is about the size of a Boeing 737 and is powered by CFM Leap engines. CFM is the 50/50 engine making joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran.

GE Aerospace stock was down 0.3% in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.

The restart might not be significant because Comac is relatively small. Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines fly about 1,700 Boeing and Airbus jets combined. They fly about 20 Comac C919 jets. What’s more, the three airlines have about 60 orders on the books for more Boeing and Airbus jets and orders for about five more C919s.

There is also more tariff news to come. Investors might be waiting. Sunday evening, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that tariff letters and deals with “various countries from around the world” will be delivered starting at noon on Monday.

Still, improving trade relations between the world’s two largest economies is a positive. Aerospace and AI-chip technologies are two things the U.S. can leverage against China. In the other direction, investors have been worried that export restrictions on rare earth materials from China could disrupt global supply chains. Rare earths are used to make magnets for electric motors, which are found in everything from cars to fighter jets, among other applications.

Coming into Monday trading, GE Aerospace stock was up more than 50% over the past 12 months. Earnings estimates have been rising as the outlook for commercial aerospace continues to be robust. Wall Street expects 2026 earnings per share of about $6.50, according to FactSet, up from closer to $6 a year ago.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com