Boeing and Bombardier trade dispute intensifies

Boeing alleged that Bombardier had hindered the sales of its 737 aircraft and implored the ITC to uphold October's 300% import tariff imposed on its rival due to the Canadian firm receiving subsidies at home that allowed it to sell its own C-Series aircraft below cost, but Bombardier shot back alleging that Boeing was already making money "hand over fist" from the 737 series planes.

The ITC was commissioned to decide whether or not the tariffs should be made permanent, a decision that would effectively block sales of the C-Series jet in the US.

Bombardier representative Peter Lichtenbaum told the ITC, "Boeing is making money hand over fist. And with a backlog of 737 orders years into the future, there are no signs of difficulty on the horizon."

However, Boeing claimed it had already been "established beyond question that Bombardier has taken billions of dollars in illegal government subsidies to prop up its C-Series programme. The C-Series would not even exist at this point but for those subsidies."

David MacNaughton, the Canadian ambassador to the US, warned the ITC that if it backed Boeing in the dispute it ran the risk of violating World Trade Organisation rules.

"Boeing's assertion that future imports from Canada threaten to cause material injury is necessarily based on just the type of speculation and conjecture that is prohibited under both US and international law," he said.

The dispute was being closely followed by Downing Street as Bombardier, and its C-Series programme, employs several thousand people in Northern Ireland whose jobs could be at risk as a result of the ITC's decision.