Sep 8, 2026
US President Donald Trump said Monday that Bombardier should stop selling jets in the United States unless it builds them domestically — writing in a social media post that the company’s products “aren’t good enough”. The threat landed hours before Canada’s own retaliatory tariffs on C$27.6 billion of American goods took effect at 12:01 am on September 8, adding a new flashpoint to an already-tense trade relationship between the two countries.
Bombardier pushed back within hours, issuing a statement defending its American footprint and rejecting Trump’s characterization of the company. It’s the second time in under a year that Trump has threatened Bombardier’s access to its largest market — the last time, none of his stated penalties were carried out.
What Trump said
Trump’s post claimed more than half of Bombardier’s revenue comes from the US market, and said the company must ‘build here’ to keep selling there. As of September 8, no executive order, formal tariff notice or aviation directive had accompanied the post — the threat remained a statement of intent, not a policy.
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Bombardier’s response
Bombardier’s statement argued, “the American aerospace industry is a clear winner on trade and exports.” The company directly employs American workers in more than 20 states and uses a US supply chain of about 2,800 companies across 47 states, worth more than US$2.5 billion in spending each year.
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The Bombardier statement pointed out where its planes are actually built: wings for its largest business jet are made by American workers in Red Oak, Texas, while critical flight-control components come from a facility near Los Angeles.
The company also confirmed plans to open a new defence and service facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana this year.
“Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees,” the company said, adding it intends to keep investing in “our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate.”
A trade war already in motion
The threat landed the same week Canada’s own counter-tariff measures took effect.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette called Bombardier “a source of pride” for the province and said “I will not respond to provocation with provocation,” signalling Quebec does not plan to escalate the dispute on Bombardier’s behalf.
Bombardier is one of Quebec’s largest manufacturing employers. This current exchange underscores how a single company has become a proxy for the broader Canada-U.S. trade fight.
Echoes of a January threat
Trump made a similar threat in January 2026, warning he would decertify Bombardier’s largest jets and impose a 50% tariff on Canadian-built aircraft unless Canada certified a competing US jet maker’s models. Neither the decertification nor the tariff was ever carried out — Canada certified the competing jets within weeks, and the dispute faded from the headlines.
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But what happened in January doesn’t guarantee the same outcome this time. What it does show is a pattern: dramatic threats aimed at Bombardier do not translate into enforceable follow-through.
What it means for Canadian investors
Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) is projected to earn more than US$10 billion in revenue in 2026, after a full-year 2025 revenue of US$9.55 billion, up 10% over 2024. Trump’s claim that over half of that comes from the US implies roughly US$5 billion could be exposed if a ban were enforced — an extrapolation from an unconfirmed claim, not a released Bombardier or analyst estimate.
The market didn’t wait for a policy to materialize before reacting. When the TSX reopened on Tuesday, after a long weekend, shares of Bombardier were down 6.4%; by mid-morning, this market loss was closer to 3.9%.
This repricing signals the real market risk for Bombardier, even without a confirmed enforcement mechanism behind Trump’s post. However, some market commentary argued the initial drop was an overreaction, noting Bombardier’s jets are already FAA-certified and compliant with the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), and that any real sales restriction would likely require congressional action and face legal challenges; but this analysis is based on an unknown, not a confirmed outcome.
For anyone holding Bombardier shares directly, or Canadian equity exposure more broadly, in a TFSA or RRSP, the practical takeaway from both January’s precedent and Tuesday’s reaction is the same: a headline can move the stock before any enforceable policy exists, and some of that move can reverse just as quickly. Watching for an actual policy document — an executive order, a US Trade Representative tariff notice or an FAA action — remains a better guide to whether the risk is real than the stock’s first-day swing.
Quick take: What’s confirmed vs. what’s a threat
- Confirmed: Trump posted the threat September 7, 2026; Canada’s C$27.6-billion counter-tariffs took effect September 8
- Confirmed: According to Bombardier’s statement about 2,800 US suppliers across 47 states, over US$2.5 billion in annual supplier spending, and a direct employment presence in more than 20 states
- Not confirmed: Any executive order, tariff notice or FAA directive to actually enforce a sales ban
- Confirmed: A near-identical threat in January 2026 was never enforced
Bombardier was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
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Romana King, Senior Editor at Money.ca, also writes for various North American publications and the RKHomeowner blog. Her book, House Poor No More, is an Amazon bestseller and five-time award winner, including the 2022 New York CPA Society's Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Book Award.
