Bombardier: Trump and May talk as D-Day looms

PRIME Minister Theresa May has discussed the Bombardier trade dispute with US President Donald Trump.

The two leaders met yesterday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The two leaders began by discussing Bombardier, with the PM reiterating the importance of the company’s jobs in Northern Ireland.”

However, according to a Canadian Government source quoted by the Reuters news agency, it is expected Bombardier will lose its trade dispute with rival Boeing, threatening thousands of jobs here.

The firm employs around 4,000 workers in Northern Ireland, building the wings and part of the fuselage for the C Series passenger planes.

Boeing claims Bombardier is selling the C Series in America below cost, and has been unfairly subsidised by the Canadian authorities.

The US Department of Commerce backed Boeing and imposed a tariff of almost 300% on sales of the jet in the United States.

Later today the US International Trade Commission will give its final ruling on the trade dispute.

This week the UK Government was accused of betraying Bombardier’s Belfast workforce after BBC Spotlight revealed that it told US authorities it did not consider itself a “legally proper party” to the planemaker’s trade dispute with Boeing.

London’s attitude under fire as decision looms, page 35