Boeing, Bombardier set out defence in trade row

BELFAST, Dec 19 (BBC): Boeing and Bombardier traded verbal blows on Monday over claims by the US planemaker that the Canadian company receives massive subsidies.

The two sides appeared before the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in the latest round of their bitter row. Boeing accused Bombardier of harming sales of its 737 aircraft and urged the ITC to support tariffs on its rival.

But Bombardier, which makes wings in Belfast, said Boeing makes "money hand over fist" from the 737.

Boeing claims Bombardier's new C-Series aircraft is being sold in the US below cost because of Canadian subsidies.

The US company won the first round of the fight in October when the US Commerce Department ordered that tariffs of up to 300 per cent should be imposed on the C-Series.

The ITC will decide if the tariffs should be made permanent, which could effectively shut off the US market to the C-Series.

In opening remarks to the ITC hearing, Bombardier representative Peter Lichtenbaum said: "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."

Boeing countered that 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".

Canada's ambassador to the US, David MacNaughton, warned that a ruling in favour of Boeing would not be the end of the dispute. He told the ITC panel that backing Boeing risked a possible violation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.