U.S. President Donald Trump has retreated from his previous threat to prohibit the sale of Bombardier planes within the United States, providing a moment of relief for the aerospace industry after a month of rising tensions and tariffs in the escalating trade conflict.
During a campaign rally on Monday evening, Trump expressed a revised view of the Montreal-based manufacturer of business jets, no longer seeing it solely as a Canadian entity.
“I’m going to assist a particular air company in getting their situation resolved,” he informed attendees in a Wichita, Kansas suburb, where Bombardier has a workforce of 1,500.
“I always thought of them as a Canadian company … but I’ve learned they have operations here, and we won’t hurt them if they’re in Kansas. So we’ll take care of those individuals and the jobs,” he continued.
Wichita is the headquarters of Bombardier’s defense division. The company has approximately 3,500 employees in the United States across various facilities in Kansas, Texas, California, and other locations.
In a social media update on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Bombardier, the Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer, would be prohibited from selling in the U.S. unless it establishes manufacturing operations there, despite the company’s existing presence in the country.
Kansas: A Republican stronghold morphs into a battleground
Residents of Kansas are already experiencing the consequences of the president’s policies. Farmers in the Midwest have faced soaring diesel prices for their tractors and combines, attributed to the ongoing conflict with Iran. Kansas has transformed into a political battleground as Republicans and Democrats vie for dominance in this historically red state as the midterm elections approach next month.
On Monday, Trump noted that a conversation with Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall played a significant role in persuading him to retract his threat concerning Bombardier. Current polls indicate that Marshall is in a tight race with Democrat Adam Hamilton in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932.
In the previous month, Trump hinted at a potential ban on Bombardier aircraft sales in the U.S. unless the company relocated its operations there, despite experts warning of the negative impact such a move would have on American workers.
“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!” he declared on social media on September 7. “If they want to access our Market, they must establish production here and cease treating America like a ‘piggybank.'”
Bombardier clarifies its commitment to the U.S. market
In response, Bombardier emphasized that it contributes over $2.5 billion USD to approximately 2,800 American suppliers across 47 states each year, indirectly sustaining tens of thousands of jobs.
“The American aerospace sector is a clear benefactor of trade and exports,” Bombardier asserted in September, echoing the president’s focus on trade victories and surpluses.
Last week, the company opened a skills development center for new aircraft technicians and mechanics in Wichita, as part of a $50 million USD investment at the site.
“Our recently announced investments and the newly opened North American Learning Center will foster high-skilled employment for many years to come,” a Bombardier representative stated in a release to CBC News on Tuesday. “We take pride in our dedicated workforce in Wichita and across the 20-plus states where Bombardier has team members.”
According to the U.S. Aerospace Industries Association, the U.S. maintains a $109 billion USD trade surplus in aerospace and defense with the global market.
When questioned about U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning regarding Bombardier’s aircraft not being sold in the U.S., Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr remarked that the Montreal-based manufacturer plays a crucial role for both nations and ’employs tens of thousands of people in the United States.’
Bombardier conducts the final assembly of its Challenger and Global business jets in Canada, while a significant portion of its revenue comes from American clientele.
“We consider the resolution of this regulatory ambiguity as a favorable development, as it mitigates a significant source of concern for investors,” remarked James McGarragle, an analyst at RBC Dominion Securities.
According to him, Trump’s threat did not have a “noticeable effect” on the demand for luxury jets among American customers over the past six weeks.
On Tuesday, Bombardier’s shares increased by $13.85 USD, approximately a 4.5 percent rise, closing at $325.32 USD.
Despite tariffs imposed on steel, aluminum, and other products, the aerospace manufacturing sector remains deeply interconnected across North America and beyond.
Analysts indicate that the majority of Bombardier’s aircraft contain at least 40 percent American content, with more than half of the value of the ultra-long-range Global 7500 luxury jet attributed to U.S. components.
Prohibiting a major manufacturer from the market would “certainly” result in revenue and employment losses for American parts suppliers, warned National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen last month.
He added that such a ban would have been “immensely disruptive” for numerous American jet fleet operators awaiting deliveries from Bombardier.
Trump’s aggressive remarks came just before Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products took effect on September 8, in response to the 50 percent duties imposed by Washington on Canadian goods in August.
Following this, Trump issued bans on various Canadian alcoholic beverages, certain dairy items, and motorcycles, among other goods, along with applying a 50 percent tariff on additional products.
The September social media statement marked the second occasion this year where Bombardier found itself in Trump’s line of fire.
Earlier in January, he specifically threatened Bombardier with grounding all Canadian-made aircraft and imposing a 50 percent tariff unless Ottawa approved Gulfstream business jets assembled in Savannah, Georgia, marking an earlier phase of trade tensions between the two nations.