This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bombardier-michael-fallon-boeing-donald-trump-commerce-tariff-defence-secretary-uk-government-a7969676.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon hints government may ban new contracts with Boeing over Trump administration's Bombardier decision Defence Secretary Michael Fallon hints government may ban new contracts with Boeing over Trump administration's Bombardier decision
(35 minutes later)
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has warned Boeing that its behaviour in a trade dispute with Bombardier, which threatens thousands of jobs in Belfast, "could jeopardise" its future defence contacts with the Government. Boeing could be dropped from getting new contracts with the Government, according to Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, potentially leading to a trade war between the UK and the US.
A complaint by Boeing has seen the US Department of Commerce propose a 220% tariff on the sale of Bombardier's new C Series jets - an aircraft whose wings are made in Belfast. Mr Fallon says that a decision to add a huge tariff to the sale of Bombardier jets, threatening thousands of jobs, "could jeopardise" its future defence contacts with the Government.
A complaint by Boeing has seen the US Department of Commerce propose a 220% tariff on the sale of Bombardier's new C Series jets – an aircraft whose wings are made in Belfast.
Sir Michael delivered a stark message to Boeing that such a stance could risk lucrative defence contracts with the UK.Sir Michael delivered a stark message to Boeing that such a stance could risk lucrative defence contracts with the UK.
He said: "Boeing is a major defence partner and one of the big winners of the latest defence review so this is not the kind of behaviour we expect from a long-term partner.He said: "Boeing is a major defence partner and one of the big winners of the latest defence review so this is not the kind of behaviour we expect from a long-term partner.
"This is not the behaviour we expect of Boeing and could indeed jeopardise our future relationship with Boeing.""This is not the behaviour we expect of Boeing and could indeed jeopardise our future relationship with Boeing."
He added: "Boeing stand to gain a lot of British defence spending. We have contracts in place with Boeing for new maritime patrol aircraft and for Apache attack helicopters and they will also be bidding for other defence work and this kind of behaviour clearly could jeopardise our future relationship with Boeing."He added: "Boeing stand to gain a lot of British defence spending. We have contracts in place with Boeing for new maritime patrol aircraft and for Apache attack helicopters and they will also be bidding for other defence work and this kind of behaviour clearly could jeopardise our future relationship with Boeing."
More follows… His comments come after Theresa May said she was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision. She is thought to have lobbied Donald Trump personally on the decision.
  Additional reporting by agencies