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Trump threatens to ‘decertify’ Canadian-built aircraft

In a post on his Truth Social app, Donald Trump has waded into a row over the certification of Gulfstream aircraft in Canada.

Canada hasn’t yet certified the Gulfstream G500, G600, G700 and G800 business jets, despite the FAA and he EASA having done so in April last year.

The apparent heel-dragging by the Canadian authorities has lead the US leader to post: “We are decertifying [the] Bombardier Global Express and all other Canadian made aircraft until such time that Gulfstream, a great American company, is fully certified.”

He added that a 50% tariff on any aircraft sold into America from Canada if the situation ‘is not immediately corrected’.

READ: ‘How bad will it get?’ Air cargo market awaits impact of tariffs and de minimis changes

While tariffs are in the President’s domain, aircraft cannot be easily decertified for any reason other than a safety concern.

Furthermore, Canadian-built aircraft make up much more than the Global Express singled out by Mr. Trump. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, there are 5,425 aircraft in service in the U.S that originated from Canada, including Bell helicopters, CRJ-family jets and the Airbus A220, of which there are 58 in service in the US with carriers including Delta, JetBlue and Breeze.

Cirium data shows that The largest U.S. operator of Canadian-made aircraft is SkyWest (which operates for a number of mainline airlines), with 238 aircraft in service of different types, followed by NetJets, Endeavor and PSA Airlines.

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