Trump threatens to decertify, levy tariff on Canadian planes
President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on aircraft from Canada sold in the US and decertify all new planes made in that country until Ottawa agreed to approve certain jets made by Gulfstream, a unit of General Dynamics Corp.
Trump said Canada had “wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Jets,” in a social media post Thursday. In response, he said the US would decertify “Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified.”
He claimed that Canada was effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products through the same certification process. “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,” he said.
A White House official said Trump’s decertification announcement would only affect new planes — sparing jets already in operation. Still, it’s unclear how the US would decertify the aircraft, as such a measure typically relates to safety issues. Gulfstream didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I don’t know what this is or where it’s coming from, but it’s beyond a bad idea for the president to get in the way of safety and certification,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst and managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. “And does he have any authority to do this?”
Trump has taken particular aim at Bombardier Inc.’s Global Express, but it’s the CRJ family of regional jets introduced by the manufacturer that’s widely used by US carriers. American Airlines Group Inc. counts about 200 of the aircraft in its regional fleet last year and Delta Air Lines Inc.’s regional partners had almost 180 CRJs in fleet last year.