Government ministers have gone in to bat for British jobs with one attacking Boeing's trade war against Bombardier as a “spurious, try-on complaint” while the business secretary travels to France to fight for jobs at car giant PSA.

Business Minister Richard Harrington told the Northern Ireland Affairs committee in Westminster that the US aerospace giant’s actions against Bombardier represented a “big, multinational business [exhibiting] market dominant behaviour” against a smaller rival.

Boeing has successfully campaigned to have the US impose import tariffs on Bombardier's C-Series airliners, large parts of which are made in Belfast, where Bombardier is the biggest employer, with 4,000 staff.

American authorities backed Boeing's calls, and the proposed 300pc duties have cast doubt on the future of the programme and jobs in Northern Ireland.