Canada: Trudeau threatens to halt Boeing F-18 deal on Bombardier dispute

PM Justin Trudeau says Canada won’t buy Boeing fighter jets while the company pursues a trade challenge against Montreal-based Bombardier over its commercial aircraft. Trudeau made his threat to halt what he called Canada’s “significant procurement” of F-18 Super Hornets alongside UK PM Theresa May on Monday. Both leaders are pressing the US firm to drop its challenge of Bombardier’s C Series program. “We won’t do business with a company that’s busy trying to sue us and put our aerospace workers out of business,” Trudeau said. Trudeau’s tough talk comes after the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s approval last week of the potential sale of 18 Super Hornets, valued at $5.23b, to the Canadian government. May has raised the issue with US President Donald Trump, as Bombardier is the biggest private employer in Northern Ireland. Canada’s ambassador to Washington said last week that Boeing had walked away from negotiations with the government. Boeing is acting in its own “narrow economic interest to harm a potential competitor,” Trudeau said, adding the challenge “is not in keeping with the kind of openness to trade that we know benefits citizens in all countries.” The planemaker launched its dispute against Canadian rival Bombardier earlier this year, alleging the Canadian government is illegally subsidizing Bombardier’s C Series commercial airliner program and that the planes are being sold in the US at “absurdly low” prices.<br/>