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Bombardier’s plan to reduce the number of workers at its rail car plant in Thunder Bay, Ont., comes as no surprise to industry watchers, given stiff global competition and trade rules that make it difficult to sell made-in-Canada trains outside the country.

The challenge of competing internationally has prompted Bombardier to open facilities in the United States and partner with local players to win business in Asia.

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But with no firm new orders from Canadian customers on its books, the Montreal-based manufacturer said it has no choice but to cut jobs when work dries up later this year at the facility that works almost exclusively on Ontario public transit projects.

“There’s no point in having plants produce product unless someone is going to buy it,” McGill University business professor Karl Moore said in an interview. “If there’s not customers in Canada, it makes it challenging to keep those plants open.”