U.S. trade court rules against Boeing Co.
as the beginning of the tough hand in trade that Trump has promised for months.
Trump has tended to wrap his trade politics in a way to placate opponents and those in his party worried that he is leading the country down a dangerous path of nationalism. The commission’s decision Friday shows some of the constraints that the president faces.
The International Trade Commission is an independent quasi-judicial federal agency whose commission is made up of members of both parties.
There was no comment from the Trump administration on the ruling, although the issue has been a sore point between the two close allies and drew others into the dispute, including British Prime Minister Theresa May. She met Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to lobby on behalf of Bombardier, a Montreal-based company that makes its wings in Northern Ireland.
Boeing expressed disappointment with the vote, saying that “we are feeling the effects of those unfair business practices in the market every day."
Bombardier called the decision “a victory for innovation, competition and the rule of law."
The trade commission’s rule could help ease tensions between the U.S. and Canada as the two nations have also sparred over Canadian exports of lumber and newsprint.
In anticipation of tariffs on Bombardier planes, the Canadian government had scrapped a plan to buy 18 jet fighters from Boeing, opting instead to buy 18 used F-18 fighters from Australia.
Canadian officials also had mentioned the possibility of fighting any tariffs on Bombardier by protesting to the World Trade Organization or contesting the tariffs through a dispute resolution mechanism under NAFTA — a mechanism that Trump’s top trade official, Robert Lighthizer, is trying to discard in revamping NAFTA.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of Foreign Affairs, said they were pleased by the commission’s vote and that the Canadian government will always defend the Canadian aerospace industry.
The sixth round of NAFTA renegotiation talks are underway this week in Montreal. Trump said earlier that the talks were proceeding “pretty well.”