Canada-Boeing trade war heats up

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont. (AA) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold trade talks with President Donald Trump in Washington Wednesday, the day after it was reported a trade dispute between Canada and aerospace giant Boeing is heating up.

Canada quietly took the first step last weekend to acquire 18 used Australian fighter, and if that deal goes through, there would be no need to buy CAN$6.3 billion worth of new advanced Super Hornets from Seattle-based Boeing.

The deal with Boeing nosedived recently when Boeing complained to Washington that Quebec-based Bombardier’s manufacture of new C-Series passenger jets was being subsidized by the Canadian government. Bombardier signed a deal last year to sell 75 of the passenger jets to Delta Air Lines.

The U.S. Commerce Department agreed with Boeing and instituted a 300 percent tariff on the Bombardier jets, even though Boeing did not have an aircraft that would match Delta’s specifications as the C-Series.

Boeing is appealing the decision and Ed Bastion, head of Delta Air Lines, says he expects a reversal on the ruling because the Boeing objection is baseless. He noted it would be hard for Boeing to “claim harm with a product we purchased that they don’t offer.”

Bastion said Wednesday he expected the deal with Bombardier to proceed and no tariffs would be paid.

Canada received approval from Washington to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornets, but the trade complaint by Boeing caused Canada to pause. The U.S. government had to OK the deal because the advanced jets were being sold to a foreign country.

Trudeau is on record saying the Boeing deal is dead as long as the aircraft manufacturer maintains its complaint, costing thousands of Canadian jobs.

“We won’t do business with a company that is busy trying to … put our aerospace workers out of business,” he told Canadian media.

Trudeau has an ally in British Prime Minister Theresa May.

She has lobbied Trump to remove the C-Series tariff because parts of the jets are to be manufactured in Northern Ireland, where Bombardier has a plant that employs 4,200 workers. Without the Delta contract, those jobs could be at risk.

Trudeau is expected to raise the trade issue with Trump at their meeting.