Trump threatens to ban Canadian-made planes

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” aircraft made in Canada and hit Canadian plane sales with a 50% tariff amid rising tensions with Ottawa.

Trump made the comments in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, tying it to Canada’s refusal to certify several types of Gulfstream business jets. “We are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada,” he wrote, adding that if the issue was not “immediately corrected,” 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 decertified jets directly and that such matters are usually handled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has yet to comment.

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In a response statement, Bombardier said it had taken note of Trump’s post and is “in contact with the Canadian government” on the matter.

Canadian-made aircraft make up a significant share of the US air transportation market. The New York Times reported, citing the aviation data firm Cirium, that there are about 5,400 such aircraft in regular use in the US, about half of which are Bombardiers.

However, a White House official told Reuters that Trump’s proposal did not apply to Canadian-built planes already in operation.

Trump has tussled with Bombardier before. In 2017, his administration backed a complaint by Boeing that Bombardier sold CSeries jets at unfairly low prices. The US Commerce Department proposed tariffs of nearly 300%. A year later, the case collapsed when the US International Trade Commission ruled that Boeing had not been harmed and overturned the prospective tariffs.

Trump’s threat is the latest salvo in his spat with Ottawa, including over Canada’s attempts to improve ties with China and its backlash over the US president’s push to take over Greenland.

Trump in particular said he would impose 100% tariffs on Canada if it struck a trade deal with Beijing, while claiming that China is “completely taking over” the country and suggesting that it “lives because of 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.”