U.S. moves to impose tariffs of as much as 219 percent on Canadian jet maker, siding with Boeing
The U.S. government moved to impose tariffs on Canadian jetliners Tuesday when it ruled in favor of a complaint by U.S. aircraft maker Boeing that claimed rival Bombardier is receiving unfair government subsidies.
The department suggested the tariffs could be as high as 219 percent. The action threatens to further inflame trade tensions between the two North American neighbors. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department moved to impose new duties on the import of Canadian soft lumber and President Trump has signaled his interest to renegotiate the terms of the North America Free Trade Agreement between the two nations.
Bombardier has sold aircraft to U.S. carriers for decades. But Boeing’s complaint follows a multibillion-dollar deal struck between Bombardier and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines for 75 C-series CS-100’s, a commercial airplane that seats about 100 people.
Following the deal, Boeing formally asked the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate what it called illegal government subsidies and unfair pricing practices that have allegedly given the Canadian company an unfair advantage as it competes for business in the United States.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/us-moves-to-impose-tariffs-on-canadian-jet-maker-siding-with-boeing/2017/09/26/9f67cf9e-a2ea-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tid=a_breakingnews&utm_term=.4c7cb09d0577
Trade war? Look for the price of Canadian lumber to skyrocket, if so.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Wed Sep 27, 2017, 01:17 AM - Edit history (1)
In the 1960's American Airlines and Eastern Airlines wanted a new airplane that Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed refused to build. They wanted a twin-engine widebody optimized for transcontinental flying but McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed were too busy beating each other to death with the functionally identical and flawed DC-10 and L1011 while Boeing struggled to deliver the 747. McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed didn't want to cannibalize the DC-10 and L1011 while Boeing wanted nothing to do with that market that they perceived to be spread too thin.
The specifications for the transcon widebody that American and Eastern wanted found their way to French industrialist Roger Beteille and the rest is history. Finding a market for a similar airliner in Europe the French led a European consortium to build the Airbus A300.
The problem is that alone, the existence of the Airbus A300 was not enough to spur Boeing to act. They dismissed the Airbus as a credible threat scoffing that they would sell twelve planes and then go out of business. It wasn't until 1978 that they launched the similar but smaller 767, the problem is that didn't wake them up to the fact that Airbus was an emerging threat.
Going into the 1980's Boeing was faced with the aging 737, the engine technology in the original 737 was twenty years old and there were new modern engines available. It was at this point they made a strategic blunder and decided to re-engine the 737 instead of building a smaller variant of the new 757.
Again airlines were scratching their heads as they faced an uninspiring choice between the re-engined 737 and the MD-80 (a modernized and larger DC-9 with the same old engine technology) while the too large and too expensive 757 loomed in the distance. Sensing another opportunity Airbus set off again for the US and the Airbus A320 was conceived which Boeing again scoffed at. Why would airlines with dozens or hundreds of 737s and DC-9s want to add a weird French airplane with the cockpit of a jet fighter?
And again Boeing looked on in slack-jawed awe as their customers bought the A320.
And then Airbus decided that it was time to take the A300 and develop it further into long-haul variants, the Airbus A330 and Airbus A340. It was only then that Boeing actually decided that they had to take Airbus seriously but there were already hundreds of Airbus airliners in service with their customers at that point. That was also the point at which Boeing began to pursue trade actions against Airbus.
Where Boeing finds itself today is with a 737 that just isn't competitive at the lower-end of the market. Airbus is in the same predicament. Bombardier targeted that segment explicitly. The problem for Boeing is that Bombardier can stretch the C Series to encroach on the sweet-spot of the 737 line.
They have done is before:
