The uncertainty over U.S. trade relations is prompting Boeing Co. to throttle back production of the passenger jet it assembles in North Charleston by two a month starting late next year.

The planemaker announced the reduction while reporting its latest quarterly earnings Wednesday.

"Given the current global trade environment, the 787 production rate will be reduced to 12 airplanes per month for approximately two years beginning in late 2020," Boeing said in a written statement.

The impact on jobs at the North Charleston plant was not immediately clear. Boeing said a year ago that it was recruiting 400 workers locally to help it increase Dreamliner output to 14 a month, which is split between the South Carolina plant and a sister 787 factory near Seattle.

"This will impact production at both sites, albeit minimally," Boeing South Carolina spokeswoman Libba Holland said. "While we don’t break down production rates by site, we will adjust the overall program production rate in a way that best meets the needs of the program, our customers and our workforce. We will always keep our people at the center of our priorities and communicate details as soon as possible."

CEO Dennis Muilenburg hinted at a rate cut in September, citing the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China. He told investors at a conference that the current rate of 14 was based in part on orders from China.

The problem for Boeing is that China hasn't been ordering airplanes from the company since the trade war broke out more than a year ago.

"The U.S.-China trade situation and the lack of orders from China the past couple of years has put pressure on the production rate," Muilenburg told analysts during a conference call Wednesday.

He did not elaborate on President Donald Trump's tweet earlier this month that a partial trade deal in the works with China will lead to $16 billion to $20 billion worth of deals for Boeing.

Boeing "will continue to assess the demand environment and make adjustments" to 787 production if necessary, he said.

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"We're continuing to engage with constituencies in the U.S. and China on the trade discussions," Muilenburg said during the call. "We continue to see benefit to both countries with a healthy aerospace ecosystem."

While the current trade environment is hurting 787 sales, Muilenburg said the long-term outlook is good.

"Our prospects for the long-term wide-body market haven't changed," he said. Boeing estimates airlines will need about 1,000 small- to medium-sized wide-body planes over the next decade to replace aging jets in their fleets.

The current backlog of 530 Dreamliners represents roughly three years of production at the 14-per-month rate, and closer to four years at the lower rate.

The reduction caught some Boeing followers by surprise. Buckingham Research said it occurred earlier than expected, although some analysts thought the rate might be cut by as much as half.

"Consequently, investors could treat (Boeing's) announcement as a positive as the production cut was less than expected," Buckingham said in a note to investors.

Analysts at JPMorgan said they believe "receiving a large order from China as part of a trade settlement with the U.S. is critical for shoring up" the 787 order backlog.

Boeing, in its earnings report, also said it booked commercial aircraft orders totaling $5 billion last quarter, including 20 Dreamliners for Korean Air and another eight 787s for Air New Zealand.

Boeing reported a big profit shortfall for the July-September period after costs related to its troubled 737 Max rose by $900 million. The company said it expects a regulatory review to begin this quarter. A few weeks ago, Boeing predicted the plane, which has been grounded since March following two fatal crashes, would be flying around that time.

Net income came in $1.17 billion, or $2.05 per share. Per-share earnings were $1.45 when onetime items are removed, far short of the $2.04 Wall Street was looking for, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue was $19.98 billion, topping expectations of $19.34 billion.