Quebec Premier demands hard line response to U.S. Bombardier tariffs
by The Canadian Press
A fiery Philippe Couillard says Boeing may have won this battle, but haven't won the war."Not a bolt, not a part, (and) of course not a plane from Boeing (should be) entering Canada until this conflict is resolved in a satisfactory way," he said
QUEBEC CITY—Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard says he wants Ottawa to take a hard line against Boeing after the U.S. Department of Commerce proposed a hefty 219 per cent duty on jets manufactured by Montreal rival Bombardier.
The department’s preliminary findings concluded Bombardier benefited from improper government subsidies, giving it an unfair advantage when selling its CSeries jets south of the border.
Couillard says the $1 billion invested by the province in the CSeries program is not a subsidy and no other investment in Bombardier is currently planned.
He says the company is being targeted by its larger U.S.-based aerospace rival even though Boeing has also benefited from decades of government assistance.
Boeing, Couillard says, may have won this battle, but haven’t won the war.
And he’s urging the Trudeau government to maintain a hardline with Boeing until the matter was resolved.
“Not a bolt, not a part, (and) of course not a plane from Boeing (should be) entering Canada until this conflict is resolved in a satisfactory way,” Couillard told a news conference today in Quebec City.
