Still, there's no one better than the commander-in-chief to bring Beijing to the negotiation table, Burgum said.

The return of the 737 MAX, Boeing's best-selling model, is the latest sign of disruption to new aircraft deliveries from a breakdown in the aerospace industry's decades-old duty-free status.

China now faces U.S. tariffs of up to 245%, the White House said last night as it unveiled a probe into critical minerals. But that total appears to apply only to two types of goods—electric vehicles and syringes—and isn’t new.