Britain told U.S. plane-maker Boeing on Wednesday that it could lose out on future British defense contracts because of its dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier which has put 4,200 jobs at risk in Northern Ireland.
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday imposed a 220-percent duty on Bombardier's CSeries jets, whose wings are made at a plant in Belfast, following a complaint by Boeing that accuses Canada of unfairly subsidizing Bombardier.
The ruling is a political headache for Britain's minority Conservative government, which relies on support from a Northern Irish party to stay in power.