Trudeau and May Join Forces Against Boeing in its Dispute With Bombardier
September 18 2017 - 2:30PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA -- The prime ministers of the U.K. and Canada vowed
Monday to join forces and press Boeing Co. and the Trump
administration to bring an end to the aerospace company's pursuit
of a trade complaint against Montreal's Bombardier Inc.
The dispute between the North American aircraft makers, over
allegations that Bombardier unfairly benefits from Canadian
government support, prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
to issue his most direct threat regarding Boeing's behavior at a
joint press conference involving the two Group of Seven
leaders.
Mr. Trudeau said a failure to resolve the matter could prompt
Canada to scrap previously announced plans to buy roughly $5
billion in Boeing jet fighters, as he said he has no intention to
do business "with a company that's trying to sue us."
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has been drawn into the dispute
because it could affect a factory in Northern Ireland that makes
parts for Bombardier's 100-plus-seat C Series aircraft. That
carries political implications for Mrs. May's minority Conservative
government, which depends on support from 10 lawmakers belonging to
Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to pass critical
legislation, including on Britain's exit from the European
Union.
"We have discussed how we can work together to see a resolution
to this issue, which from my point of view, I want to see a
resolution which protects those jobs in Northern Ireland," Mrs. May
told reporters. She added she would raise the Bombardier dispute
with President Donald Trump when she meets with him later this week
at the United Nations General Assembly.
"I will be impressing on him the significance of Bombardier to
the United Kingdom, and obviously to jobs in Northern Ireland," she
said.
The rhetoric and vow from London and Ottawa to fight together
emerges before the International Trade Commission is scheduled to
issue next week a preliminary ruling on Boeing's complaint.
Boeing alleges Canadian state subsidies have allowed Bombardier
to sell its C Series in the U.S. at below cost, and this poses an
unfair competitive threat to Boeing's own 737 passenger jets.
Boeing wants U.S. authorities to impose tariffs on C Series imports
to the U.S.
"In need of a big name sale in the United States, Bombardier
offered planes at absurdly low prices, millions lower than in its
home market. This is a classic case of dumping," Boeing said in a
recent statement.
The Canadian government and Bombardier deny Boeing's
allegations.
Aerospace analysts say plane makers including Boeing routinely
sell new plane models below what they cost to make to win market
traction, analysts say. Bombardier's C Series is smaller than any
Boeing jet, and the U.S. company didn't make an offer last year on
the contract that Bombardier secured from Delta Air Lines Inc.
Mr. Trudeau said Boeing is pursuing this complaint due "to their
narrow economic interest to harm a potential competitor, and is not
in keeping with the kind of openness in trade that benefits
citizens all around the world."
This escalated rhetoric also comes as the U.S., Canada and
Mexico are set to meet for the next round of trilateral talks aimed
at revamping North American Free Trade Agreement, known as Nafta.
Those talks are unfolding while Mr. Trump continues to threatened
to withdraw from the pact unless the U.S. gets better terms.
Jenny Gross in London contributed to this article.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 18, 2017 15:15 ET (19:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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