Business AviationTrump threatens to “de-certify” Canadian-built aircraft amid Gulfstream certification dispute
US President Donald Trump has threatened to “de-certify” Bombardier and other Canadian-built aircraft operating in the United States and impose a 50% tariff on Canadian-manufactured airplanes sold into the country, citing a dispute over Transport Canada’s certification of Gulfstream business jets.
In a post published on 29 January on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused Canadian authorities of refusing to certify Gulfstream’s G500, G600, G700 and G800 aircraft. He claimed the refusal was “wrongful” and “illegal” and said it justified retaliatory action against Canadian aerospace manufacturers.
In the same post, Trump stated that Bombardier Global Express aircraft, along with “all aircraft made in Canada,” would be de-certified in the United States until the Gulfstream models receive Canadian approval. He also threatened to apply a 50% tariff on any aircraft sold from Canada into the US market.
Trump further alleged that the Canadian certification process has effectively blocked the sale of Gulfstream aircraft in Canada. No evidence has been presented to support claims that Transport Canada has deliberately withheld certification.
Transport Canada has not yet certified Gulfstream’s G500, G600, G700 or G800. The G800, an ultra-long-range business jet, received certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in April 2025.
The FAA certified the larger G700 in March 2024, following a prolonged process during a period of heightened regulatory scrutiny after the Boeing 737 MAX crisis.
On the Canadian side, Transport Canada granted type certification to Bombardier’s Global 8000 business jet in November. The FAA approved the aircraft about a month later, and EASA issued its certification on 23 January.
It remains unclear what legal or regulatory mechanism the US president could use to revoke certification for aircraft already approved and operating in the country. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, about 2,700 Bombardier-manufactured aircraft are currently registered as in service in the United States, including roughly 150 Global Express jets.
More broadly, there are approximately 5,425 Canadian-built aircraft in operation in the US, spanning business jets, regional jets, narrowbody aircraft and helicopters. The fleet includes Airbus A220s and large numbers of Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 regional jets flown by operators such as SkyWest Airlines, Endeavor Air, PSA Airlines, GoJet Airlines, Flexjet and Delta Connection.
Bombardier originally manufactured the CRJ series, but the program was sold to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020, after Bombardier exited the commercial aircraft market to focus exclusively on business jets.
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Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
