Trump threatens airplane tariffs against Canada after country decertifies US jet manufacturer

President Trump threatened to levy tariffs on “any and all Aircraft” from Canada after the country stripped certification from a U.S. jet manufacturer. 

In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said his administration would tax all Canadian aircraft sold to the U.S. until the country recertifies several products made by American manufacturing company Gulfstream Aerospace. 

“Canada is effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process,” Trump said. “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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Additionally, the president stated he would decertify “all Aircraft” made in Canada, specifically citing Gulfstream’s Canadian rival, Bombardier Global Express. 

U.S.-based American Airlines and Delta Air Lines list Bombardier’s models among their fleets. 

Additionally, Flightradar24, which tracks air travel around the globe, said there were more than 400 aircraft made in Canada operating to or from a U.S. airport at the time of its post Thursday evening. 

A White House spokesperson said that this change would not impact Canadian-made aircraft currently operating in U.S. airlines’ fleets, only new aircraft. The power to decertify aircraft products falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration. The power to decertify aircraft products falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration. 

In a post on the social platform X on Friday afternoon, Canadian Minister of Transport Steve MacKinnon said he’s been in contact with Bombardier’s CEO and senior leaders at General Dynamics, which owns Gulfstream. 

“We will remain in close contact,” MacKinnon said. “Transport Canada officials are in communication with their U.S. counterparts, and our government is actively working on this situation. Canada’s aviation industry is safe and reliable. We will stand behind it.”

The proposed aircraft import tax is the latest in Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canada and other countries. 

On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back against another fiscal threat from the president, The Associated Press reported. Trump said he would impose a 100 percent tariff against the country unless Canada entered into a trade deal with China. 

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other nonmarket economy,” Carney said. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”