Yahoo Finance Bombardier row may spark transatlantic trade war 'threatening post-Brexit deals with US'
Britain’s post-Brexit trading relationship with the US could be damaged by the fallout from the Bombardier-Boeing row.
Fears of a Transatlantic trade war have been raised after defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon warned the UK government would not look favourably on the US aero giant.
Boeing has won the first round of its trade dispute with Bombardier, which has been accused of receiving unfair subsidies from the Canadian government.
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The decision means Bombardier could be hit with tariffs of up to 220%, throwing the future of the 4,000 jobs at its Belfast plant into doubt.
Sir Michael even suggested London might decline to buy Boeing products in future: “This is not the behaviour we expect from Boeing and it could indeed jeopardise our future relationship with them.
“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.”
US president Donald Trump has made a big play of putting American jobs first and has threatened action against US companies that choose to build plants or invest in overseas operations.
He has also said he would have no qualms about slapping big tariffs on foreign goods to safeguard US jobs.
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However, Trump has also given Theresa May, the prime minister, reassurances of the continuing ‘special relationship’ and that it would extend to trade beyond Brexit.
That would appear to count for little – and without the collective power of the EU behind the UK in the future, Britain’s position is looking wobbly.
Lib Dem Leader Vince Cable said: “May must support Trudeau’s administration in standing up to protectionist bullying from Donald Trump and his crude ‘America First’ philosophy.
“Do we really believe the US will save us from Brexit with a comprehensive trade deal, when this is how they deal with fair and free international competition?”
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Labour MP Conor McGinn, who was born and brought up in Northern Ireland, said the UK could not rely on a good trade deal with the US after Brexit.
“Hard Brexit campaigners in Government keep promising that Britain will get a great new trade deal with the US after we leave the EU,” he said.
“But now we see the US government taking a decision which is totally against our economic interests and could put thousands of jobs at risk across the UK, especially in Northern Ireland.”
The situation centres on a decision by the US Department of Commerce to impose a tax on the 125 C-Series jets made by Bombardier due to be supplied to Delta Airlines.
About 1,000 jobs are linked to the C-Series, the wings of which are made at a purpose-built £520m factory at Queen’s Island in Belfast.
“This should be a wake-up call to those who view the US as our trading saviour after Brexit,” said Frances O’Grady, head of the TUC.
“The US slapping huge tariffs on key UK exports is not a good sign of things to come.”
