The US Commerce Department is threatening a 219 per cent duty on Bombardier C-Series passengers jets a year after Delta Airlines bought 125 of the aircraft for a price that is widely guessed to be lower than the list tag. The action is driven by Boeing’s bitter complaint that the Canadian government is subsidizing Bombardier. The department ruled in a preliminary decision that Bombardier benefited from improper government subsidies, which gave the Montreal-based company an unfair advantage when selling in the US. The list price for the planes is around $6 billion, but the actual amount of money involved in the deal has not been made public and Boeing alleges Bombardier offered them for much less. The proposed duty has also upset the British where Bombardier is a major employer in Northern Ireland.
