Trudeau adds fuel to Boeing dispute with renewed pressure to drop Bombardier trade complaint

Canada will carry on talks with the U.S. government over Boeing’s (NYSE:BA) trade complaint against Canadian plane maker Bombardier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday according to Reuters, as the battle between the American company and the Canadian leader heats up.

A U.S. trade court is expected to rule on Boeing’s dumping allegations next week, but Trudeau said Canada will continue discussions with Washington regardless of whether the court backs Boeing.

In response to threats from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the country would stop doing business with Boeing unless it dropped the trade complaint against Canadian plane maker Bombardier on Monday, Boeing doubled down on its dumping allegations.

“Boeing is not suing Canada … This is a classic case of dumping, made possible by a major injection of public funds. This violation of trade law is the only issue at stake at the U.S. Department of Commerce. We like competition. It makes us better. And Bombardier can sell its aircraft anywhere in the world. But competition and sales must respect globally-accepted trade law,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement.

On Monday, Trudeau said Canada "won't do business with a company that's busy trying to sue us and put our aerospace workers out of business."

Canada had been in talks to purchase 18 Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing, but those have been on hold because of the Bombardier dispute.

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Chicago-based Boeing's complaint claims that Bombardier's new CSeries passenger aircraft receives Canadian government subsidies that give it an advantage internationally.

“This is a commercial dispute with Bombardier, which has sold its C Series airplane in the United States at absurdly low prices, in violation of U.S. and global trade laws. Bombardier has sold airplanes in the U.S. for millions of dollars less than it has sold them in Canada, and millions of dollars less than it costs Bombardier to build them,” according to Boeing’s statement.

The complaint prompted a U.S. Commerce Department anti-dumping investigation that could result in penalties for Bombardier.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.