U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026.
Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to revoke the U.S. certification of the Bombardier Global Express business jet and impose 50% import duties on other Canadian-made aircraft until the country certifies a number of planes made by U.S. rival Gulfstream Corp.
“Furthermore, Canada has effectively banned the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “If for some reason this situation is not remedied immediately, we intend to impose a 50% tariff on Canada on all aircraft sold to the United States.”
It’s unclear which aircraft outside of Bombardier’s Global Express franchise, such as the Canadian-made Airbus A220 airliner, will be subject to Trump’s tariffs.
According to Flightradar 24, X had more than 400 Canadian-made aircraft flying to and from U.S. airports as of around 1 p.m. Friday (1 p.m. Japan time).
There are 150 Global Express aircraft registered in the U.S. and operated by 115 operators, according to data provider Cirium.
Bombardier, General Dynamics’ Gulfstream and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
President Trump said Canada is refusing to certify Gulfstream 500, 600, 700 and 800 jets. In April, the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency certified the Gulfstream G800 jet. Transport Canada, which is responsible for Canadian certification, did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear how President Trump would decertify a plane, since decertifying aircraft is the job of the Federal Aviation Administration, but Trump has made similar declarations in the past, which were ultimately implemented by relevant agencies, often with exemptions.
It was also unclear whether the Federal Aviation Administration could decertify an aircraft based on economic reasons, what that would mean for the aircraft’s U.S. owners, and whether it would prevent it from operating in the United States. The FAA can decertify an aircraft for safety reasons. The FAA declined immediate comment.
Certification process
Under global aviation regulations, the country in which the aircraft was designed (in the case of the Gulfstream, the United States) is responsible for primary certification, known as a type certificate, which guarantees the design’s safety.
Other countries typically verify the lead regulator’s decision and allow aircraft to enter their airspace, but have the right to refuse or request further data. After the Boeing 737 Max crisis, European regulators delayed approving some U.S. certification decisions and forced further design changes, sparking tensions with the FAA.
As part of continued tensions between the U.S. and Canada, Carney on Tuesday denied retracting the remarks that provoked President Trump and said almost nothing is normal in the United States.
Secretary Carney last week cited U.S. trade policy and urged countries to accept the end of the rules-based world order that the United States once championed. In response to U.S. tariffs on key Canadian imports, Mr. Carney is pushing to diversify trade away from the United States, which accounts for about 70% of Canada’s total exports under the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement.
The FAA certified Bombardier’s Global 8000 business jet in December. With a top speed of Mach 0.95, or approximately 729 mph (1,173 km/h), it is the world’s fastest commercial aircraft since the Concorde. It was certified by Transport Canada on November 5th.
