Further blow to Bombardier CSeries as U.S. Commerce Department upholds tariff

It has been announced by the U.S. Commerce Department that any of the Bombardier CSeries aircraft ordered by Delta Air Lines are likely to face a tariff of 292.21% if they enter the U.S. in a partially- or fully-assembled state. This follows on from a preliminary estimate made in September, and is seen as a massive victory for Boeing, as well as a huge blow for the aircraft manufacturing industry in both Canada and Northern Ireland.
With the Commerce Department now having decided on the level of the tariff, the U.S. international Trade Commission will give the final decision on whether or not the tariff can be levied. By February 1, 2018, the four-man committee must decide whether or not, intrinsically, Boeing’s sales and financial practices have been injured in the 100-150-seat market by the deal with Delta Air Lines. It will be an interesting finding as Bombardier and Embraer are currently the only plane manufacturers building this size of aircraft, and until they joined the market, there had not been a new jet of that size built since 1983.
Should the Commission decide that no injury to Boeing can be found, then it could terminate the Commerce Department’s tariff. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross says the tariff decision came after a “full and unbiased review of the facts,” adding “The United States is committed to a free, fair and reciprocal trade and will always stand up for American workers and companies being harmed by unfair imports,” he adds.
The decision given by the Commerce Department also included language that could disrupt Bombardier’s plan to circumvent the tariff by completing final assembly of CSeries aircraft ordered by U.S. airlines in Mobile, Alabama. The Commerce Department has confirmed that the tariff will still apply, “regardless of whether they enter the United States fully or partially assembled.”