The US president’s remarks come amid a rift between Washington and Ottawa over trade and geopolitics
US President Donald Trump has threatened to “decertify” Canadian-manufactured aircraft and impose a 50% tariff on Canadian plane sales as tensions with Ottawa mount.
Trump made these comments in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, linking it to Canada’s refusal to certify several types of Gulfstream business jets. He wrote, “We are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all aircraft made in Canada,” and added that if the issue was not “immediately rectified,” he would impose a “50% tariff on any and all aircraft sold into the United States of America.”
However, several Western media outlets reported that no US president has ever directly decertified jets, and such matters are typically handled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has yet to comment.
In a response statement, Bombardier stated it had taken note of Trump’s post and is “in contact with the Canadian government” regarding the matter.
Canadian-made aircraft constitute a significant portion of the US air transportation market. The New York Times reported, citing the aviation data firm Cirium, that there are approximately 5,400 such aircraft in regular use in the US, with about half being Bombardiers.
Nonetheless, a White House official told Reuters that Trump’s proposal does not apply to Canadian-built planes already in operation.
Trump has previously clashed with Bombardier. In 2017, his administration supported a Boeing complaint that Bombardier was selling CSeries jets at unfairly low prices. The US Commerce Department proposed tariffs of nearly 300%. A year later, the case was dismissed when the US International Trade Commission ruled Boeing had not been harmed and overturned the proposed tariffs.
Trump’s threat is the latest in his dispute with Ottawa, including over Canada’s efforts to enhance ties with China and Canada’s reaction to the US president’s bid to take over Greenland.
Trump specifically said he would impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it struck a trade deal with Beijing, while claiming that China is “completely taking over” the country and suggesting that it “relies on the United States.” Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa has no plans for a free-trade agreement with Beijing but urged Trump to “respect Canadian sovereignty.”