#Bombardier: ‘European Commission assisting and supporting United Kingdom’

The US Department of Commerce added a further 80% tariff on Bombardier CSeries aircraft last week. The new tariff is in addition to a 220% tariff imposed by the US in the previous week, sighting subsidies from the Canadian, Provincial Quebecois and UK governments, writes Catherine Feore.

Boeing challenged the sale of Bombardier CSeries aircraft to US airline, Delta. Boeing itself does not make a similar model and did not reply to the Delta call for tender.

The 300% tariff is a blow to Bombardier Belfast, where almost 1,000 of its 4,500 employees make the special composite wing. Bombardier is the largest industrial employer in Northern Ireland and the CSeries wing is its most valuable and distinct component. It is feared that should the wing component end, other parts of its Belfast operation are unlikely to relocate.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, currently steeped in the NAFTA re-negotiations, called Boeing’s claims baseless and described the countervailing duties proposed by the US Department of Commerce as "absurdly high". Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will speak to Trump about the matter during his meeting in Washington tomorrow (11 October).

British Prime Minister Theresa May tweeted that she was ‘bitterly disappointed’ by the decision:

Bitterly disappointed by initial Bombardier ruling. 1/2

— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) September 27, 2017

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The Government will continue to work with the company to protect vital jobs for Northern Ireland. 2/2

— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) September 27, 2017

In an interview with Global News Canada, May said she had spoken to Trump on more than one occasion about the situation. As the UK is still a member of the EU, it can also call on its might. A senior EU source told EU Reporter: “Yes, in line with its usual practice, the Commission has been assisting and supporting the United Kingdom since the initiation of this trade defence investigation in April 2017. We are in close contact with the UK authorities on this issue.”

The source said it was normal practice in trade investigations for the Commission to provide support and technical/legal advice to a member country.

The source also revealed to EU Reporter that the Commission has made its position known with the US authorities prior to and during the preliminary investigation phase, saying that the UK could count on the Commission’s support in all upcoming steps of the investigation to ensure that any possible trade defence action taken by the US is fully compatible with WTO rules.

It is worth noting that in 2009 the Commission analyzed whether Short Brothers (Bombardier, Belfast) were compliant with the EU’s rules in granting research and development aid for the development of composite wings. In that study, the EU looked into the impact the support might have on world markets and found it to be minimal in a market dominated by two global players.

The UK published its Preparation for our Future UK Trade Policy yesterday (9 October). The paper acknowledges that the European Commission currently manages trade disputes on behalf of the EU and its member states. When the UK leaves the EU, it will need to have this capacity to fight these disputes "after day one of exit".

Buccaneering Brexiteers think that the UK will be more than able to paddle its own canoe as ‘Global Britain’ with a brand new Department for International Trade to conquer the world. They have also assumed that large trading partners, such as the US and indeed the EU, will want to engage in new trading relations. A new US ‘America First: Buy America, Hire America’ administration that takes a more aggressive and protectionist approach adds a further reality check to their wildest dreams.

We asked the UK’s Brexiteer-in-Chief Nigel Farage MEP about the UK’s future relations with the US after Trump’s now infamous ‘America First’ inaugural address.

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