"Boeing should default China for not taking the beautifully finished planes that China committed to purchase," Trump wrote on social media, without giving more details.

"This is just a small example of what China has done to the USA, for years," he added.

US aviation giant Boeing's CEO Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday that Chinese customers had stopped taking delivery of aircraft due to the "tariff environment."

His remarks signaled growing disruption caused by tit-for-tat levies exchanged between the world's largest economies this month.

New US tariffs have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.

The tariff blitz -- which Trump says is retaliation for unfair trade practices, as well as a bid to restore US manufacturing prowess -- has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession.

Beijing on Thursday threw cold water on Trump's apparent optimism about a US-China deal to lower tariffs, saying that suggestions of ongoing talks were "groundless."

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his country would have a "fair deal with China," adding when asked if Washington was talking to Beijing that "everything's active."