President Donald Trump said Monday that Bombardier would no longer be allowed to sell its business jets in the United States unless the Canadian manufacturer begins producing aircraft in the country. The White House did not immediately explain how such a restriction would be implemented.
U.S. Market
Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, where he criticized Bombardier aircraft and said the company would have to manufacture in the U.S. if it wanted continued access to the market. Bombardier aircraft are certified by the FAA and comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Bombardier employs about 3,500 people in the U.S. and works with approximately 2,800 American suppliers. The company operates factories and service centers in the country, produces Global 8000 wings in Texas and prepares aircraft for special-mission applications at a Kansas facility. About half of the approximately 5,100 Bombardier aircraft in service worldwide are operated in the U.S.
Bombardier Responds
“Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate across the country,” Bombardier said in a statement to Reuters Monday. The company said it spends more than $2.5 billion annually with U.S. suppliers.
Trump made a similar January threat to decertify Bombardier Global Express aircraft and impose a 50% tariff on Canadian-built airplanes until Canada approved several Gulfstream models. Neither action took effect, although Canada subsequently approved several of the Gulfstream aircraft.
Did anyone ask what is the basis for the manufacture-in-US requirement? Purely arbitrary? A whim? A typical day on social media? Will Canada tit-for-tat demand that Boeing airplanes be manufactured in Canada? Or like most Americans they may have adopted the old adage… Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise.
He’ll probably recind the order after he buys a bunch of their stock at a reduced price, because of his social media text. And then he’ll sell at a profit. The corruption never stops!
Manufacture-in-US has precedent in auto industry. The only reason so many auto brands are allowed to be sold in the US is because all of those non-US based companies have assembly plants in various locations in the US. Whether that would work for Canada on airliners remains to be seen. Canada currently has no Canadian built airliners since Bombardier sold off the “C” series airliner program to Airbus. Airbus (as the A220) currently builds some of those airplanes in the US in a plant in Mobile AL. Bombardier did shut down Learjet production in Kansas several years ago.
Let’s not forget that every pratt PT-6 is built in Canada..