Here's the Canadian jet Boeing is fighting to keep out of America

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Here's the Canadian jet Boeing is fighting to keep out of America

Bombardier C Series

Bombardier

A Bombardier C Series prototype.

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  • Airbus now owns 50.01% of Bombardier's advanced C Series airliner program.
  • The US Department of Commerce has proposed a 299.45% tariff on C Series coming to the US.
  • Airbus will now build the US-bound C Series jets in Alabama to get around potential tariffs.
  • The C Series is an ultra fuel-efficient composite airliner that promises great passenger comfort.

On Monday, Airbus announced that it has acquired a 50.01% stake in Bombardier's next-generation C Series airliner program. Mechanisms within this week's deal will see Airbus taking complete ownership of the C Series program in less than five years.

The C Series is the same aircraft at the heart of a simmering trade war between Canada and the US.

On September 26, the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration called for a tariff of 219.63% on Bombardier's C Series jet. A week later, the ITA called for another 79.82% tariff. In total, all C Series jets entering the US could be subject to tariffs of 299.45%.

The action was taken in response to a complaint filed by Boeing in April regarding Delta Air Lines' order for 75 of the Canadian jets.

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Boeing believes that its business was harmed by Bombardier using Canadian government subsidies to give Delta a price substantially below the cost of building the planes.

In response, Bombardier and Delta have called the ITA's preliminary decision "absurd." Last week, on the airline's earnings call, Delta CEO Ed Bastian that his company will not pay the proposed tariffs.

The deal between Airbus and Bombardier is a direct response to the looming tariff action.

Although Airbus will make no up-front cash investment in the program, production of US-bound C Series jets will switch from Quebec, Canada to its factory in Mobile, Alabama.

The two firms believe producing the C Series in the US will bypass any potential tariffs levied by the Department of Commerce.

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But what about the plane itself? What makes it so special?

Shortly after the announcement of Delta's controversial C Series order in April 2016, Bombardier flew one of its CS100 demonstrators down to the airline's Atlanta headquarters for journalists and the airline's staff to get a closer look.

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