Canada has scrapped plans to acquire 18 brand new F/A-18 Super Hornets from Boeing.

The deal, worth $5.23bn, has been shelved in favour of older model F/A-18s from Australia according to the Australian government.

The move is retaliation following months of bad blood between the two nations after Boeing, the American giant, filed a trade complaint against Bombardier, the Canadian Aerospace leader.

The complaint centred around allegations by Boeing that Bombardier was selling its C Series jet at unnaturally low prices and lobbied the US Department of Commerce to slap a 300% tariff on imports of the planes.  This move appeared to backfire by pushing Bombardier, already struggling, into the arms of Airbus, as well as costing it lucrative deals with the Canadian government.

Boeing said “Although we will not have the opportunity to grow our supply base, industrial partnerships and jobs in Canada the way we would if Canada purchased new Super Hornets, we will continue to look to find productive ways to work together in the future”..

Canadian Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough commented "The evaluation of bids will also include an assessment of bidders impact on Canada's economic interest  When bids are assessed, this will mean that bidders responsible for harming Canada's economic interest will be at a distinct disadvantage compared to bidders who aren't engaged in detrimental behavior".