President Donald Trump has threatened to prevent Bombardier from selling aircraft in the US unless the Canadian manufacturer moves its production there, escalating a trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa that is already bringing new tariffs on both sides.
Trump issued the warning in a Truth Social post on Monday, writing: "NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!" He said the company must relocate its manufacturing if it wants access to American customers. "If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a 'piggybank'," Trump wrote.
The threat came hours before Canada was due to impose retaliatory tariffs on $20bn worth of US goods. The Canadian measures include a 50 per cent tariff on American dairy products including milk and cream, a 25 per cent tariff on fresh cheese and curd, 25 per cent tariffs on US wood products including softwood, and 50 per cent tariffs on multiple steel and aluminium products.
Trade negotiations between the US and Canada collapsed late last month after Canada left the talks. The US subsequently imposed new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, including hockey sticks, cement and honey. Prime Minister Carney said the Trump administration had put forward last-minute terms that were "unfair" and "uneconomic".
Bombardier already has a substantial US presence. It runs a Kansas factory producing special mission military planes and employing 3,500 American workers. The company also operates sites in Texas, Arizona, Florida, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, California, DC and New Jersey.
Its jets are made in Canada, the US and Mexico. About half of Bombardier's fleet, 5,100 aircraft, is operated by customers based in the US. Most Bombardier private jets also use US engines produced by Honeywell Aerospace and GE Aerospace.
The company said late on Monday that its existing work in the US supports "tens of thousands of U.S. jobs". Bombardier’s aircraft comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, known as CUSMA, and have been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
It remains unclear how Trump would seek to block the company from doing business in the US, or how any such action would fit with the existing trade agreement. Richard Aboulafia, a US aerospace analyst, said he did not expect business jet buyers to cancel Bombardier orders and did not see how the administration could stop the aircraft being sold.
The dispute has drawn a firm response from Quebec, where Bombardier is an important economic presence. A report commissioned by Bombardier said the company contributed C$7.4bn ($5.4bn; £4bn) to Canada’s gross domestic product in 2024.
Quebec premier Christine Fréchette rejected the demand that Canadian companies relocate production to retain market access. "Quebec will not allow anyone to dictate where our companies must produce in order to access a market," she said.
Trump’s threat leaves Bombardier facing uncertainty over a market that accounts for a large share of its customer fleet, while the wider trade confrontation moves into a new phase with Canada’s counter-tariffs due on Tuesday.
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