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to be any different. Having seen its legal fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics
attack snowball into a major controversy in Washington, told Reuters. “This part of the trade policy
that pitted nations against each other and process works unimpeded despite President Trump’s pro-
cast a shadow over thousands of jobs, and tectionist rhetoric.”
then not produce the desired result, one
wouldn’t be surprised if the American giant Congressman Bradley Byrne, who was among those
decides not to take the issue up again. watching the dispute play out, was happy with the ruling.
“American trade laws were designed to protect and
Emerging Stronger promote domestic U.S. industry, but this petition
here was no doubting which com- failed to account for the real and tangible economic
pany had more to lose. At stake impact of the C Series programme on the United
for Bombardier wasn’t just its States economy and aerospace industry,” he says.
Treputation but the future of the C

Series programme itself. Delta was a pillar “The C Series will support more than 22,700 U.S. jobs and
of support for the company right from the more than US$30 billion in spending in the United States,
beginning and all through the dispute, including hundreds of direct jobs in Alabama with the new
but with the U.S. Commerce Department US$300 million assembly line.”
having slapped a preliminary 220 percent
tariff on the jets, a ruling against it would Changed Landscape
led to the price of the jets skyrocketing, Perhaps more important that the ruling itself is the way
thus effectively shutting Bombardier out of the trade case has impacted the commercial aerospace
the U.S. market. That isn’t a worry anymore. landscape. When the complaint was filed, Bombardier was
The response from Delta, which has struggling financially and looking for stable partners, and
been made to wait for the C Series jets its US $6 billion C Series programme was in danger of not
because of the protracted dispute, was realizing its potential. Airbus, Boeing’s big rival, wasn’t in the
along expected lines. The carrier, whose picture.Things couldn’t be more different now. Bombardier,
CEO Ed Bastian had called the duties which was reportedly attempting to team up with a Chinese
“absurd,” said that it was pleased by the plane maker, mainly for a financially stable partner but also
ITC’s ruling rejecting Boeing’s “anticom- to take advantage of the rapidly growing market for new air-
petitive attempt to deny U.S. airlines and craft in the country, and Airbus are now partners. A few years
the U.S. traveling public access to the after talks on a possible merger between the two companies
state-of-the-art 110-seat CS100 aircraft that went nowhere. the two companies shook the industry
when Boeing offers no viable alternative.” by announcing in October last year that the European aero-
“It’s reassuring to see that facts and evi- space giant was taking 50.01 percent control of the C Series
dence matter,” said Chad Bown, a senior programme.

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