Embraer boss says it is ‘harmed party’ in Bombardier row

EMBRAER was the “harmed party” in the trade fight between Boeing and Bombardier, the Brazilian jetmaker’s commercial aviation boss has said.

The US trade commission last month gave an unexpected victory to Bombardier against Boeing, by allowing the Canadian firm to sell its newest jets in the US without heavy duties.

Embraer is a more direct competitor of Bombardier, and is backing a separate Brazilian government complaint against Canada at the World Trade Organisation.

“We were the harmed party,” Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO John Slattery told Reuters at the Singapore Airshow. “Illegal subsidies were given both by the federal government and the state of Quebec to Bombardier. In addition to that Bombardier sold the aircraft in the North American market below cost.”

Last October, John Slattery – whose brother is aircraft leasing boss Domhnal Slattery – that

Embraer is not interested in “killing” Bombardier, but wanted it to behave like a “normal commercial enterprise”.

The Bombardier case has already caused a political and commercial rupture between Canada and the United States, as well as between the United Kingdom and the US.

Last month Bombardier won its trade case in the US, overturning a decision to impose damaging tariffs on imports of its C-Series aircraft.