UK takes aim in Bombardier row

Britain told US planemaker Boeing it could lose out on British defence contracts because of its dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier which has put 4,200 jobs at risk in the North.

The US Department of Commerce had imposed a 220% duty on Bombardier’s CSeries jets, whose wings are made at a plant in Belfast, following a complaint by Boeing which accuses Canada of unfairly subsidising Bombardier.

The ruling is a political headache for UK prime minister Theresa May whose minority Conservative government relies on support from the DUP to stay in power.

It also undermines the UK government’s assurances that free trade and London’s close ties with Washington will be pillars of Britain’s prosperity and global influence after it leaves the EU in 2019.

“This is not the behaviour we expect from Boeing and it could indeed jeopardise our future relationship with them,” UK defence secretary Michael Fallon told reporters in Belfast.

“Boeing has significant defence contracts with us and still expects to win further contracts. Boeing wants and we want a long-term partnership but that has to be two-way,” he said. Bombardier is the largest manufacturing employer in the North.

“Bitterly disappointed by initial Bombardier ruling,” said British prime minister Theresa May, who had personally asked US president Donald Trump to help resolve the dispute.

Boeing said it was committed to the UK, but gave no indication that it might change tack in the dispute. “We have heard and understand the concerns from the prime minister and the government about Bombardier workers in Northern Ireland,” Boeing said.

Boeing said that since 2011 it had tripled its spending in the UK to £2.1bn (€2.4bn) in 2016, while the firm and its suppliers accounted for more than 18,700 UK jobs.

The row has come at a bad time for Ms May, weakened by her party’s poor showing in June’s election and who has been struggling to contain infighting within her top team over Brexit.

Manufacturing Northern Ireland, an industry group, said the row was an ominous sign of the difficulties the UK could face after leaving the EU.

“What we could be witnessing is the fundamental difference between being a fully-fledged member of an internal market and a junior partner in a free trade agreement,” it said.

“This does not bode well for the UK’s plan to be a leader in global free trade nor indeed ambitions of a free trade agreement with the EU which cannot match the benefit we currently enjoy as part of the EU’s Single Market,” it said.