American Aviation's Potential Edge in a Trade Spat
A Gloriously Simple Trade Spat
There is a beautiful, almost brutal, simplicity to a trade war. Forget the high minded talk of fair play and level playing fields. To me, it always boils down to one country deciding its team deserves to win, and then promptly moving the goalposts. Right now, it seems Washington is grabbing the posts and dragging them squarely into the backyard of its own aerospace giants. The target this time is the Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier, and the proposed weapon is a rather hefty tariff. I must admit, there’s a certain cynical charm to the directness of it all.
When the news broke that Bombardier could face punishing tariffs, its shares took a nosedive. Who would have guessed. Meanwhile, I imagine a few quiet cheers went up in the boardrooms of America’s finest aeroplane manufacturers. Suddenly, the competition looks a lot less competitive, not through innovation or efficiency, but through the brute force of a customs levy. It’s a classic playground tactic, really. If you can’t outrun the other chap, just get a bigger lad to trip him up for you.