Britain pushes Boeing to drop Bombardier challenge

LONDON: Britain is pressing for US plane maker Boeing to drop its trade challenge against Canadian rival Bombardier and seek a negotiated settlement to try to protect jobs in Northern Ireland, its business ministry said on Monday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May also raised the issue in a call earlier this month to US President Donald Trump, after Boeing complained earlier this year that Bombardier was dumping passenger jets on the US market.

Bombardier is Northern Ireland’s largest manufacturing employer and May’s governing Conservatives are dependent on the support of a small Northern Irish party for their majority in parliament.

“Ministers across government have engaged swiftly and extensively with Boeing, Bombardier, the US and Canadian governments. Our priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement with Bombardier,” a government spokesman said in a statement.

“This is a commercial matter but the UK government is working tirelessly to safeguard Bom- bardier’s operations and its highly skilled workers in Belfast.”

In April, Boeing asked the Commerce Department to investigate alleged subsidies and unfair pricing for Bombardier’s CSeries airplane, accusing the Canadian company of having sold 75 of the planes to Delta Air Lines Inc last year at a price well below cost.