President Donald Trump says he is both decertifying Canadian-made aircraft and threatening to charge a 50% tariff on their sale in the U.S. because Transport Canada hasn’t certified Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 business jets. In a social media post late Thursday, Trump seemed to suggest that Canada was holding up the certifications to give Bombardier’s Canadian-made Global Express models an advantage. There are questions about whether Trump has the legal authority to decertify aircraft, but he has imposed a wide range of tariffs against most of the U.S.’s trading partners. Here’s the full post from Trump:
The threats are somewhat confusing. In his opening salvo, Trump says he is “hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses and all Aircraft made in Canada until such time as Gulfstream, a great American company, is fully certified as it should have been many years ago.” That would effectively ban the sale and operation of Bombardier products along with the Airbus A220, some of which are made by Bombardier in Quebec. Airbus also makes the small airliners in Mobile, Alabama. It’s not clear if “all Aircraft made in Canada” would include Twin Otters and water bombers made by De Havilland Canada.
Although the first threat would seem to stop Canadian-made aircraft from being sold in the U.S. (it’s not clear if the decertification would extend to existing aircraft on the U.S. registry) for good measure Trump says he’ll put a 50% tariff on Canadian-made aircraft sold into the U.S. Canadian officials and Bombardier are scrambling to respond to the surprise news. Canada and the U.S. have an agreement in which aircraft certifications are usually rubber-stamped after first being approved in the countries of origin. It’s not clear why the Gulfstream jets have not been certified in Canada per that arrangement. Transport Canada certified the Global 8000 in late 2025, and the FAA certified it last Dec. 19. The Gulfstream G800, which is the chief competition for the Global 8000, was certified by the FAA and EASA last April but does not appear to have been approved by Transport Canada.
Must be language issues (ESL etc).
Hmm. Canadian aircraft contain a lot of U.S. content (engines, avionics, systems, interiors). Fewer Canadian deliveries can mean less work for U.S. suppliers, not more.
The engines on the large cabin jets come from the UK and Germany.
Charles, you are right on some of them. The Global 6000 is Rolls BR710, and the 5500/6500 use the Pearl 15, from Germany. But it is not the whole large-cabin lineup. The Global 7500 and 8000 are powered by GE Aerospace Passport engines. So it is mixed by model.
My main point on Trump’s threat is about U.S. supplier impact. Canadian deliveries carry a lot of U.S. content beyond the airframe, so fewer deliveries can mean less work for U.S. suppliers.
Welcome to the club of scramblers. As of late, it appears as if four quarters of the planet is scrambling to respond to all the surprising news from the WH.
Fostering relationships and building alliances one TRUTH at a time.
Well, he’s jumping in to help his rich buddies.
Good luck. Transport Canada does nothing “immediately”
Ask any pilot about times for medical confirmations.
It is so refreshing to have a President who focuses on helping American companies first. The Canadian government needs to smell the roses, treat its most important neighbor (us) better, or it will be replaced by the growing conservative populist movement up north. Sounds like Alberta is already well on the way of seeking independence from Ottawa.
I’m gonna side with President Trump on this one. And he picked a good time to do it too, right after a high profile Challenger crash in Bangor Maine.
I visited the airport in Savanah Georgia once while flying a Phenom 300 and couldn’t even get anyone to talk to me about a tour of the plant, so I just assumed Gulfstream had all the customers it needed for a while. Maybe they would have had time for us if we had been flying a Challenger.
I’ll try to avoid politics here (because it usually so thoroughly poisons these discussion forums, regardless of the subject). The current issue with the two specific Gulfstream models (G700 and G800) is the same that had FAA grant a special exemption (for three years), in order to certify these models in USA — fuel system icing airworthiness. The company has three years to retrofit aircraft in order to keep the certification. Apparently, Transport Canada is waiting for those retrofits before fully certifying.
As for the “decertifying” existing aircraft in USA, that would essentially ground a fleet of over thousand aircraft with numerous private operators in USA, who I’m sure won’t be that pleased with the President making their aircraft useless giant paperweights.
Obviously, this is just a threat, and judging by the past year of threats, an empty one, usually to be withdrawn without any meaningful concessions from the other side, but it’s still extremely unnerving.
Thanks Predrag. The best way to avoid political conflicts is to simply declare that all politicians are criminals taking money under the table whether Democrat or Republican. I did notice that Europe has certified these Gulfstreams though, so how do we explain that Canada won’t?
As I had said, Transport Canada is probably simply waiting for the retrofits, to solve the fuel system icing issue, expecting it to happen fairly soon, rather than issuing a provisional/temporary certificate and then revisit the issue again later.
It doesn’t hurt that the delay helps the domestic brand, especially at a time when the southern neighbour is engaging in a hostile trade war. In other words, nobody at Transport Canada is losing any sleep over the delaying the certification of an American-made aircraft…
Better get the Super Duper Executive Order Pen! We have become a reality TV show for the world to see. I’m buying shares in every popcorn manufacturer.
Salty or Sweet? Thats why I can’t buy it. 😂
Evidently there is a concern over fuel icing issues associated with changes in the fuel system on Gulfstream’s latest jets. The FAA has concerns also because it only granted a temporary exemption for the jets thru the end of 2026. The Bluster, Bully, Bluff, and TACO WH tactics sure get old.
Accuracy is the last thing I’d expect from Trump, but I’ll ask anyway. Has Transport Canada never granted certification to the “Gulfstream 500, 600 700 jets?”
G500 and G600 have received certifications in the past. G700 and G800 are awaiting it, and it’s due to the fuel system icing issue, for which the FAA gave a three-year exemption, in order to deploy a retrofit (or lose certification). Perhaps Canada Transport is simply waiting for the retrofit before certifying.
What flashed into my head when I read this was the final scene in “The Bridge on the River Kwai” where the doctor, Major Clipton, is standing over the dead Colonel Nicholson, looking stunned, saying, “Madness! Madness!”
The G600 was certified in 2019 by the FAA. I’ve been typed on it for years and actually went through recurrent with a Canadian pilot who flew a 600 and was never able to get an answer as to why the airplane wasn’t certified by Transport Canada. Personally, I think it’s because the Pratt engines on it are highly susceptible to damage from ground icing on the blades at TC doesn’t want to throw a Canadian company under the bus. Either way, just as a broken clock is right twice a day (although, as my son says, “not a digital clock, Dad…”), Trump is right on this issue.
Challengers have a history of crashing on takeoff due to ice. That is fact, not conjecture. So I agree with you. Granted, it is illegal to takeoff with ice adhering to an airfoil or control surface, but facts are facts and Challengers have a record like no other now.
“we are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses and all Aircraft made in Canada…” Who exactly are “we”?
“I am going to charge Canada a 50% tariff …” We know “I” means Peace President Donald J. Trump.
Laws are only as good as citizen’s, polititions, and those in law enforcement demand and the willingness to enforce them. However, US citizens, the politicians elected to represent US citizens, and law enforcement, in this case includes the FAA, seem uninterested, ignorant, and absolutely silent regarding the laws and the certification FAR’s that do not permit nor allow the President of this USA to make good on his childish, uninformed, and spur of the moment demands. We have had a previous term followed by 12 months of round two of Peace President Donald J. Trump’s governance via EO. Yet, no practical pushback for willfully circumventing the laws that prohibit such sophomoric antic’s that are, at the least humiliating on the world stage, and at worst, catastrophic economically to aviation with all sorts of consequences for any aircraft owner and aircraft manufacturing. What’s the next burr under POTUS’s saddle to break out the Sharpie out and executive order his way of juvenile governance to momentarily satisfy his whims? So far, silence just keeps enabling him to do what our Constitution, laws, and FAA prohibits.
Hey Russ, how’s the view from Canada? Lately, you folks have been on the receiving end enabled by our collective silence. I apologize for POTUS bluster. However, not all of us are silent.
Lol. Was that you having a margarita with the “Maryland father?”