What is the Bombardier dispute about? And does it tell us Brexit will be a disaster?

Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform believes so. He has noted that the EU and the US have been quarrelling about state support for Boeing and Airbus (the giant European aircraft manufacturer) for several decades but that this has never resulted in US tariffs on Airbus imports.
He sees this as partly a reflection of the commercial power of Europe: the US would not dare to slap tariffs on Airbus imports because it would be hit by serious counter-measures on Boeing exports to the massive EU market.

Mr Tilford thinks that the UK outside the EU will not have this commercial power in the eyes of Washington in similar disputes and when it comes to trying to do a new free trade with the US. “This case gives us a real taste of how the UK will be treated in negotiations over a US-UK trade deal post-Brexit, and how vulnerable the country will be,” he says.