U.S. President Donald Trump singled out Bombardier in a threat to decertify and tariff Canadian-made aircraft Thursday, marking the latest escalation of trade tensions between the neighbouring countries.
In a post on social media, Trump alleged that "Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Jets."
"We are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified, as it should have been many years ago," Trump said.
The president said if "this situation is not immediately corrected" he will put a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian aircraft sold in the United States.
In the lofty world of ultra-long-range business jets, Bombardier and Gulfstream are head-to-head rivals, with the Global series battling for market share against Gulfstream’s latest models.
Montreal-based private plane maker Bombardier routinely beats Gulfstream in the number of planes produced each year, but it has failed to rake in more money than its Savannah, Ga.-based competitor since 2012.
Bombardier churned out eight more luxury planes than the 138 produced by Gulfstream in 2024, while Gulfstream recorded US$8.3 billion in billings versus US$6.3 billion by its northern competitor, according to a 2025 report by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
In a response posted to its website, Bombardier said it is an international company that employs more than 3,000 people in the U.S. across nine major facilities. It said it also creates thousands of U.S. jobs through 2,800 suppliers.
"We are actively investing in expanding our U.S. operations, including a recent announcement in Fort Wayne, Indiana," the statement from Bombardier said.
"Thousands of private and civilian jets built in Canada fly in the U.S. every day. We hope this is quickly resolved to avoid a significant impact to air traffic and the flying public."
Whether Trump's threats are actionable is unclear. Experts are casting doubt on whether the president could unilaterally revoke an aircraft certification, much less multiple ones in a sweeping move with big repercussions for U.S. air travel.
"I don't know if he has that power," said Ross Aimer, CEO of California-based Aero Consulting Experts.
"You can't just say just because Canada didn't do what we want them to do, I'm going to decertify the airplane."
Aimer said the president has the authority to ground aircraft "in some extreme cases," as he did with the Boeing 737 Max 8. The jet was banned from the skies for 20 months during the first Trump administration due to safety issues.
Trump's move to effectively do the same to "all Aircraft made in Canada" would ensnare 5,425 jets and helicopters that were assembled north of the border and registered in the U.S, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
These include aircraft built by Bombardier, Airbus and Texas-based Bell Textron. Cirium counts 2,678 Bombardier planes registered in America by more than 1,200 operators. The single-aisle Airbus A220 is relied on by major carriers, with Delta Air Lines flying 46 and JetBlue flying 10, Cirium figures show.
Smaller operators in the U.S. that fly the Bombardier Regional Jet for mainline airlines would also be hit by a temporary grounding.
Certification typically plays out over years in a process handled by regulators, with authorities often working in cross-border co-operation to review applications.
"Aircraft certification, especially between Canada and U.S., has always been very close, with Canadian authorities and the FAA in unison," said Aimer, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
However, Canada does not appear to have certified Gulfstream's G500, G600, G700 or G800 — business jets that hold between 13 and 19 passengers — to the extent that the U.S. and Europe have.
As for Bombardier, any effective grounding in the U.S. of its thousands of business jets now in service could damage the Canadian company's bottom line.
"If that's the case, they can't sell any more. And the ones that they've sold technically can't fly in U.S. airspace," Aimer said.
Canada has re-emerged as a target of Trump's anger since Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a widely praised speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In his Jan. 20 speech at the WEF, Carney warned that the old world order is dead and urged middle powers to band together as larger ones try to pressure them through economic coercion.
Trump responded in his own WEF speech, saying Carney was not grateful and later withdrew an invitation to Canada to join his controversial "Board of Peace."
The president's anger escalated Saturday when Trump threatened 100 per cent tariffs on Canada over Ottawa's limited deal with China around electric vehicles and agriculture. Trump, in a social media post, called Carney a "governor."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said those tariffs would only be applied if Canada signed a free-trade agreement with China, which Carney has said Ottawa has no intention of doing.
Later Thursday, Trump again took aim at Canada while attending the premiere of the Melania Trump documentary at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
When asked about the United Kingdom deepening ties with Beijing, Trump said "it's even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China."
Trump said "Canada is not doing well, they are doing very poorly," adding "you can't look at China as the answer."
"The first thing they are going to do is say you are not allowed to play ice hockey anymore," Trump said. "That's not good. Canada's not going to like that."
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Allison Robbert
