Yahoo News Theresa May pleads with Donald Trump to save British jobs at Bombardier
Theresa May has phoned Donald Trump in a bid to save British jobs at aircraft building company Bombardier.
The prime minister has asked the US president to help broker a deal in a bitter aerospace trade dispute which could financially devastate one of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers.
Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier, which employs about 4,500 people in Belfast and accounts for 10% of Northern Ireland’s manufacturing exports, is facing significant costs in a spat with US aeronautics powerhouse Boeing.
Rival Boeing alleges that Bombardier received subsidies allowing it to sell its CSeries passenger planes at below-market prices.
The US Department of Commerce is expected to announce a decision on whether to impose duties against Bombardier on September 25.
However, the British government has been actively lobbying in the US for a compromise between the two companies amid growing concern about the potential implications for Bombardier’s Belfast operations.
It is understood that Mrs May raised the matter with Mr Trump in a phone call last week.
MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM YAHOO UK
Hurricane Harvey: Mum donates her own breast milk to victims in Texas
This video of a cheeky dog stealing a snack live on TV has won the internet for today
Staffordshire Bull Terrier which mauled its owner to death ‘had eaten crack cocaine’
British Red Cross ‘not diverse enough’ to deal with Grenfell Tower tragedy
Business secretary Greg Clark also recently travelled to Boeing’s base in Chicago to discuss the potential impact of the dispute and Northern Ireland secretary of state James Brokenshire has been involved in negotiations.
The fact Downing Street has become involved demonstrates the level of concern over the impact an adverse ruling by the US Department of Commerce against Bombardier could have on the future of the Northern Ireland factory.
Northern Ireland does not have its own functioning government after the Stormont Executive collapsed in January following a dispute between the two biggest parties, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Months of talks between the parties have failed to resolve the political crisis.
About 1,000 of Bombardier’s Belfast employees are involved in the making of the CSeries wings at the centre of the US-Canadian trade dispute.
Boeing filed a petition with the US International Trade Commission and the US Department of Commerce in April, alleging that massive subsidies from the Canadian government have allowed Bombardier to embark ‘on an aggressive campaign to dump its CSeries aircraft in the United States’.
Bombardier has rejected Boeing’s claims. Bombardier said the plaintiff is a global powerhouse that has not lost any sales as a result of Bombardier.
A government spokesman said: ‘This is a commercial matter but the UK government is working tirelessly to safeguard Bombardier’s operations and its highly skilled workers in Belfast.
‘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.’
(Main picture: Rex)
