U.S. to De-certify Canadian-Made Aircraft until Ottawa Certifies Gulfstream Business Jets

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to decertify Bombardier Global Express business jets and potentially all aircraft manufactured in Canada unless Canadian authorities certify U.S.-made Gulfstream models.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump accused Canada of blocking Gulfstream aircraft through its certification process and warned of trade retaliation. “Canada is effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process,” he wrote. “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.”

Trump said the action would target Bombardier’s Global Express family and could extend to other Canadian-made aircraft, though it remains unclear whether this would include commercial jets such as the Airbus A220, which is assembled in Canada.

Trump’s threat, if carried out, would have a drastic impact on U.S. carriers like American Airlines (AAL.O) and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), which rely on Canadian-made airplanes for many of their regional services.

FlightRadar24 said more than 400 Canadian-made aircraft were operating to and from U.S. airports as of around 0100 GMT on Friday. Cirium Aviation Analytics said 150 Global Express aircraft are registered in the U.S. and operated by 115 operators.

Trump said Canada has refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 business jets. In December, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the Gulfstream G8000, the world's fastest civilian plane with a top speed of Mach 0.95, or about 729 mph (1,173 kph). Transport Canada, which oversees aircraft certification in Canada, has not commented on the issue.

It remains unclear how decertification would be carried out, as the FAA controls aircraft approvals and typically revokes them only for safety reasons, not for economic disputes, leaving the impact on U.S.-based operators uncertain.

Under global aviation rules, the country where an aircraft is designed issues the primary type certificate, while other regulators typically validate that decision but can delay or refuse approval.