Embraer SA (ADR) (ERJ): Will Obama’s Blunder Cost The Boeing Company (BA) $20 Billion?

Topping it all off, the Brazilian air force planes that are to be replaced by this upgrade are, after all, French Mirages. There’s every possibility that Brazilian pilots might simply be more comfortable switching from one French plane to another, better, more modern French plane.

Rio 2016 billboard. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

When you weigh all the “pluses” France has racked up in its competition with Boeing, and with Saab, I simply don’t believe this contract was Boeing’s to lose in the first place. While the NSA spying scandal unveiled by Edward Snowden might have tipped the scales further against Boeing, it seems to me they were leaning pretty heavily in France’s favor to begin with.

The article Will Obama’s Blunder Cost Boeing $20 Billion? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rich Smith.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Embraer.

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