The Canadian Government has said that it strongly disagrees with the US Department of Commerce's decision to initiate anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into imports of Canadian large civil aircraft.
 
On May 18, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the launch of investigations to determine whether imports of 100- to 150-seat civil aircraft from Canada are being unfairly dumped in the US, and whether Canadian producers are receiving alleged unfair subsidies.
 
The investigations were initiated following a petition filed by The Boeing Company seeking relief of planned imports of Canadian civil aircraft.
 
Responding to the announcement, Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: "Boeing's petition is clearly aimed at blocking Bombardier's new aircraft, the CSeries, from entering the US market. Boeing admits it does not compete with exports of the CS100 aircraft, so it is all the more difficult to see these allegations as legitimate, particularly with the dominance of the Boeing 737 family in the US market."
 
Freeland added that many CSeries suppliers are based in the US, "directly supporting high-paying jobs in many US states." She also emphasized that the Canadian and US aerospace industries are highly integrated.
 
Freeland said that the Government "will defend the interests Bombardier, the Canadian aerospace industry, and our aerospace workers."
 
Commenting on the investigations, Ross said: "The US market is the most open in the world, but we must take action if our rules are being broken. While assuring the case is decided strictly on a full and fair assessment of the facts, we will do everything in our power to stand up for American companies and their workers."
 
If the Commerce Department preliminarily determines that dumping or subsidization is occurring, it will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to start collecting cash deposits from all US companies importing the relevant civil aircraft from Canada.
 
Final determinations by the Commerce Department are scheduled for October for the countervailing duty investigation, and for December for the antidumping investigation.