Republican Senator Makes Direct Appeal to Trump Over Bombardier Threat
Newsweek · C · trust 61/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas said he made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump 's administration after the president threatened to ban Canada’s Bombardier from selling aircraft in the United States unless they manufacture them on U.S. soil.
Moran said on X on Monday that he had reached out to the Trump administration to “make certain the President is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas and the importance of its presence in Wichita to many Kansas workers at Bombardier and in the Bombardier supply chain.”
Moran added: “I will continue working to see that Bombardier’s manufacturing operations not only remain in Kansas but continue to grow and create American jobs. Kansas is home to a hardworking, skilled workforce, and I will continue welcoming leaders in aircraft and defense manufacturing to do business here in the Air Capital of the World.”
Trump’s threat came hours before Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods took effect on Tuesday.
Trump levied 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods and has repeatedly attacked Canada since Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed in August.
“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.’”
Newsweek has contacted Moran's office and the White House for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
In a statement posted on its website on Monday, Bombardier said it is a "strong contributor" to the American aerospace industry and creates "tens of thousands of jobs across the United States.”
The statement did not directly address Trump’s threat, but said the company’s aircraft are “built with American-made components such as engines, avionics and many more key systems provided by great American companies.”
It added: “Bombardier’s American workers are based all around the United States with sites in Kansas, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, California, Washington D.C. and New Jersey, as well as overall direct employment presence in more than 20 states.”
Bombardier said its supply chain is made up of approximately 2,800 American companies across 47 states and that it spends over $2.5 billion with suppliers each year.
“Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees,” it said. “Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate across the country."
The United States and Canada have ramped up a trade war, hitting each other with steep tit-for-tat tariffs after trade negotiations collapsed in August.
Trump imposed import taxes of up to 50 percent on about $20 billion worth of Canadian products.
Canada struck back at Trump with tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods. Those took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
The tariffs hit more than 700 U.S. products , including steel, aluminum, cheese, household appliances, clothing, electronics and farm equipment at rates of 15, 25 or 50 percent.
Canada said its tariffs match Washington’s dollar for dollar and rate for rate.
Trump made a similar threat earlier this year.
In January, Trump said the U.S. would decertify and place tariffs on all Canadian-built planes unless the Canadian government approved Gulfstream business jets.
He singled out Bombardier in a post on Truth Social, writing: “Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Jets, one of the greatest, most technologically advanced airplanes ever made, we are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified, as it should have been many years ago.”
He added: “If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50 percent Tariff on any and all Aircraft sold into the United States of America.”
Canadian regulators approved Gulfstream G700 and G800 business jets in February, weeks after Trump’s threat.
Bombardier employs more than 18,800 people worldwide , including 3,100 in the U.S., with its American headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, housing a service center, a flight-test facility and its defense arm. Back in January, facing the same threat, the company put a finer point on it: more than 3,000 U.S. jobs across nine major facilities, plus thousands more supported through 2,800 American suppliers.
Back in January, after Trump's first post, Bombardier said it had "taken note" of his remarks and was in touch with the Canadian government. "Thousands of private and civilian jets built in Canada fly in the U.S. every day. We hope this is quickly resolved to avoid a significant impact to air traffic and the flying public," the company said.
The money at stake is real. Analysts peg Bombardier's full-year 2026 revenue near $10.2 billion, and if Trump's own figure, more than half of sales coming from the U.S., holds up, a market ban could put close to $5 billion of that at risk. Second-quarter revenue was already up 6 percent year-over-year, to $2.2 billion on 32 deliveries, with services revenue hitting a record $674 million.
Investors didn't wait to see how it plays out. Bombardier shares fell between 5 and 9 percent within hours of the post.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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