Trump threatens Canada with 50% tariff on aircraft sold in US, expanding trade war

In Trump’s latest threat, the Republican president said he was retaliating against Canada for refusing to certify jets from Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace.

Trump said the U.S., in return, would decertify all Canadian aircraft, including planes from its largest aircraft maker, Bombardier. “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 in his post.

Trump said he is “hereby decertifying" the Bombardier Global Express business jets. There are 150 Global Express aircraft in service registered in the U.S., operated by 115 operators, according to Cirium, the aviation analytics company.

Spokespeople for Bombardier and Canada’s transport minister didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday evening.

The U.S. Commerce Department previously put duties on a Bombardier commercial passenger jet in 2017 during the first Trump administration, charging that the Canadian company was selling the planes in America below cost. The U.S. said then that the Montreal-based Bombardier used unfair government subsidies to sell jets at artificially low prices.

The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington later ruled that Bombardier did not injure U.S. industry.

Bombardier has since concentrated on the business and private jet market. If Trump cuts off the U.S. market it would be a major blow to the Quebec company.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Carney on Wednesday that his recent public comments against U.S. trade policy could backfire going into the formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal that protects Canada from the heaviest impacts of Trump’s tariffs.

Carney rejected Bessent’s contention that he had aggressively walked back his comments at the World Economic Forum during a phone call with Trump on Monday.

Carney said he told Trump that he meant what he said in his speech at Davos, and told him Canada plans to diversify away from the United States with a dozen new trade deals.

In Davos at the World Economic Forum last week, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump’s name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the gathering.

Besides Bombadier, other major aircraft manufacturers in Canada include De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, which makes turboprop planes and aircraft designed for maritime patrols and reconnaissance, and European aerospace giant Airbus. Airbus manufactures its single-aisle A220 commercial planes and helicopters in Canada.

During the Biden administration, the U.S. International Trade Administration touted the interdependence of the U.S. and Canadian aerospace industries and cited a 1980 World Trade Organization agreement that the website of the current U.S. trade representative says “requires signatories to eliminate tariffs on civil aircraft, engines, flight simulators, and related parts and components.”

Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service describes the United States as the largest trading partner for the country’s aerospace and space industries and the destination for a significant portion of exported aircraft, components and space technologies.

Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto. AP writers Lisa Leff and Josh Funk contributed to this report.