US President Donald Trump
Credit: Reuters Photo
US President Donald Trump he was decertifying Bombardier Global Express business jets and threatened a 50 per cent tariff on other Canadian made aircraft until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by US rival Gulfstream.
"If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all aircraft sold into the United States of America," Trump said on a post on Truth Social.
Trump also said he was "decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada" until the Gulfstream planes were certified.
The move, if implied, would drastically affect US carriers like American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which rely on Canadian-made airplanes for many of their regional services.
Additionally, Bombardier operates several service centers across the US including in Kansas, where it is growing its defence business.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the North American neighbours after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged world leaders to accept the end of the rules-based global order that Washington had once championed.
Canadian planes in the US
According to FlightRadar24, there are more than 400 Canadian-made planes operating to and from US airports as on Friday.
Further, data provider Cirium said there were 150 Global Express aircraft in service registered in the US, operated by 115 operators and 5,425 total aircraft of various types made in Canada in service registered in the US including narrowbodies, regional jets and helicopters.
Trump said their neighbour had refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 jets. In April, the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency certified the Gulfstream G800 jet.