(AFP) – President Donald Trump threatened Monday to block US sales of Canadian plane maker Bombardier unless it builds aircraft in the country, complaining of “unjust and unfair” bilateral trade provisions as he escalates a tariff war. The angry social media post marks the second stunning potential move by the US leader this year against the manufacturer, which has thousands of its aircraft currently operating in US airlines’ domestic fleets.
And it comes on the eve of Canada imposing retaliatory tariffs on a range of US goods beginning Tuesday. “No more selling Bombardier in the United States!” Trump posted in all caps on his Truth Social platform, although he did not specify how he would achieve a sales halt. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.'”
“Canada blocks our GREAT American Banks, and Companies” from doing business there, Trump added. “That Era is OVER!” The US market accounts for more than half of Bombardier’s revenue, Trump said. Back in January, furious over what he said was Canada’s refusal to grant certification to new models of US-made Gulfstream jets, the president threatened to decertify Bombardier planes in the United States and impose a 50-percent tariff on Canadian aircraft.
Those threats apparently were never carried out, but Trump said Canada quickly certified Gulfstream planes the following month because of his intervention. Trump’s social media post Monday signaled continued acrimony over Bombardier, amid a broiling bilateral tariff fight.
Even if Trump sought to follow through on his latest threat, it remained unclear how it would happen. The Federal Aviation Administration, not the White House, is the US agency that certifies or decertifies aircraft in the country. Bombardier models remain US certified and the company is currently exempt from US tariffs. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s post.
Last month, as trade negotiations collapsed, Trump slapped 50-percent tariffs on some $20 billion worth of Canadian products ranging from hockey sticks to cement. Canada announced it is imposing retaliatory tariffs on a similar amount of US products beginning early Tuesday. The duties of 15 percent, 25 percent, and 50 percent will apply to imports from the United States covering steel and aluminum products as well as dairy goods like cheese.
Negotiations between the two sides broke down late last month after days of meetings in Washington, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying he decided to suspend the trade talks. At the time, Carney said the Trump administration’s terms were ultimately unacceptable, and that US negotiators had introduced restrictions on Canadian trade deals with other countries at the eleventh hour.
US officials also made unacceptable “threats” to the French language and “Quebec culture,” he added, referencing the French-speaking province in eastern Canada. Ottawa and Washington have not resumed negotiations since, and have continued trading barbs.
– Michael Mathes
© 2024 AFP
