Bombardier loses jet trade appeal in U.S.
C Series range dispute just part of bigger battle with Boeing
MONTREAL — The U.S. International Trade Commission has rejected Bombardier’s petition to reopen the factual case against its C Series in order to consider newly disclosed facts about Embraer’s E190-E2 jet.
The American agency made its decision a day after the Montrealbased transportation company argued that the Brazilian plane’s range above 2,900 nautical miles qualifies it to be considered as a competitor in the 100- to 150-seat segment of the market.
“We are disappointed because we felt this was important information for the investigation,” said Bombardier spokesperson Simon Letendre.
Boeing has argued that the plane’s range below the 2,900nautical-mile threshold qualifies it as a regional jet that doesn’t compete with the C Series or Boeing’s 737.
The USITC will vote Friday afternoon on whether duties should be imposed against Bombardier’s C Series jet. That’s a day later than originally planned, due to the U.S. government shutdown.
The agency will also determine if the introduction of Bombardier’s C Series into the U.S. harms Boeing.
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 Alabama.
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.
Bombardier spokesperson Mike Nadolski said Tuesday that Boeing has been disingenuous by demanding the U.S. government ignore Embraer’s role in the market while trying to buy the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer. He said details about the Embraer aircraft, which came after the factual record closed at the USITC, “eviscerates the premise of Boeing’s case.”
“Boeing’s previous attempts to exclude Embraer from the ITC’s analysis has resulted in a fundamentally flawed assessment of the market that we believe needs to be addressed,” Nadolski emailed.
The U.S. Department of Commerce imposed duties of 292.21 per cent on the C Series aircraft.
Canada has filed requests for panel reviews under NAFTA to appeal U.S. decisions to impose duties on imports of the C Series and Canadian softwood lumber.
NAFTA’s Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism means Canada can get a panel made up of U.S. and Canadian trade experts to decide if the duties follow U.S. trade law, rather than going through the U.S. court system. Canada is also arguing that the entire U.S. process for imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties violates global trade rules.