OTTAWA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said here on Monday that his country will not do business with U.S. aerospace giant Boeing because the company has sued a Canadian company.
Trudeau made the remarks at a joint press conference after his meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May, who arrived here Monday for one-day visit.
It means that Trudeau's government may walk away from a controversial plan to purchase 18 interim Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing if the company doesn't stand down.
Boeing launched a trade dispute with Montreal-based Bombardier earlier this year. It accused its rival Bombardier of selling its CSeries passenger jets to a U.S. airline at an unfairly low price with help from government subsidies, and said the case affected its long-term economic health.
The U.S. Commerce Department is currently investigating the complaint, and is expected to release its preliminary findings next week.
Trudeau said "the action that Boeing has taken is very much in their narrow economic interests, to harm a potential competitor, and quite frankly is not in keeping with the kind of openness to trade that we know benefits citizens in all countries around the world."
"We won't do business with a company that's busy trying to sue us and trying to put our aerospace workers out of business," he added
May said she has already made her feelings clear in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, someone Trudeau also said would be hearing on the matter of Boeing vs. Bombardier.
"I will raise the issue of Bombardier when I meet with him again later this week," said May.
"I will be impressing upon him the importance of Bombardier to the United Kingdom., and particularly, obviously, to jobs in Northern Ireland."
Bombardier is a major Canadian company and a significant employer in Northern Ireland, with 5,000 workers in Belfast making up about 10 percent of the area's manufacturing jobs.
In a statement released Monday, Boeing accused Bombardier of a "classic case of dumping" by offering the CSeries for sale in the U.S. "at absurdly low prices" after it "sold poorly in the marketplace."
"No one is saying Bombardier cannot sell its aircraft anywhere in the world. But sales must be according to globally accepted trade law, not violating those rules seeking to boost flatlining business artificially," the statement said.
