Boeing battle with Bombardier expected to continue after Friday ruling

Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press</span>
Published Thursday, January 25, 2018 12:31PM EST

MONTREAL -- The heated battle between Boeing and Bombardier will likely drag on regardless which side comes up short Friday in a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling.

In new documents filed Wednesday, Bombardier says its rival will likely respond to a loss by filing a new petition once there is a new U.S. order for the C Series.

And industry analysts predict that the Montreal-based manufacturer and the Canadian government will challenge a losing decision either in court or through trade agreements.

The USITC is expected to decide Friday afternoon if import duties totalling 292.21 per cent sanctioned by the Commerce Department will be applied on the C Series.

Bombardier needs to win support from three of four commissioners since Boeing wins on a tie vote.

International trade lawyer Lawrence Herman expects the quasi-judicial body will support the American manufacturer and that Ottawa will appeal to the World Trade Organization and through NAFTA under Chapter 19.

The two aircraft manufacturers made their closing arguments in separate submissions that painted dramatically opposing pictures.

Bombardier insisted that Boeing faces no "threat of material injury" from C Series imports. However, it says Boeing went to great lengths to exclude Embraer's E190 E2 jets from the case while keeping its negotiations to acquire the Brazilian manufacturer secret.

The Chicago-based aerospace giant didn't mention Embraer in its submission but claimed the fate of the U.S. domestic aircraft industry was at stake.

The two sides also disagreed over whether an assembly line in Alabama for U.S. orders will ever be built.

Bombardier says building the plant is required to offset the risk of duties. Boeing counters that plans for the facility will be abandoned if the USITC dismisses the petition paving the way for imminent imports of C Series planes.

Delta Air Lines was expected to receive the first of its firm order for 75 CS100 planes in the spring, but now plans to wait until the aircraft destined for U.S. customers is built in Mobile.

Boeing launched the trade case last April, arguing that governments in Canada and Britain subsidized the plane's development and allowed Bombardier to sell it at unfairly low prices.

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