September 8, 2026.
Bombardier shares fell 7 per cent after Trump threatened to ban the company’s jet sales in the U.S., with no explanation of what legal mechanism would be used. Bombardier sells more than half its production volume into the U.S. market and directly employs 3,500 U.S. workers across more than 20 states. A Republican senator and a major aerospace union have both pushed back against the threatened ban, citing Bombardier’s contributions to U.S. jobs. U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Bombardier Inc. is spooking some investors as the Quebec plane maker gets dragged into Canada’s trade war with the United States, with no talks in sight.
Bombardier shares fell 7 per cent to $293.49 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning before clawing back some of those losses later. It’s the first trading day since the President floated a ban on Bombardier jet sales in the United States over the long weekend. Analysts say it’s not clear what legal mechanism the White House would use to stop the company from exporting into the U.S., and Mr. Trump hasn’t explained what he intends to do. Bombardier jets are cleared for sale in the U.S. under certifications obtained by the Federal Aviation Administration. The mere threat of a ban, which comes as Canada imposes retaliatory tariffs on $28-billion worth of U.S. imports, is not a welcome development for Bombardier, however. The company is riding a wave of momentum and has a healthy backlog of orders – progress that could come undone as it’s enveloped by a political trade fight beyond its control. “NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Mr. Trump wrote on his social-media platform on Monday afternoon. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.’”
The stakes are massive for the company, which sells more than half of its production volume into the U.S. market. There could also be major implications for Quebec, with one of its main exporters now under threat by Canada’s biggest trading partner. “This no doubt elevates uncertainty for Bombardier,” National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said in a research note on Monday. “While we had thought that the trade-related risk for Bombardier was in the rear-view mirror, it is clear that the U.S. President is going to escalate the trade dispute by targeting one of Canada’s most important exporters.” This isn’t the first time Mr. Trump has taken aim at Bombardier. In January, he accused Canada of unfair trade practices and said the U.S. would decertify all Canadian and Bombardier-made jets unless Transport Canada approved aircraft made by Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. He also threatened a 50-per-cent tariff at the time on new aircraft made in Canada.
The Canadian regulator subsequently certified key Gulfstream business-jet models for use back in February and the flashpoint ended. In 2017, during Mr. Trump’s first mandate, the U.S. imposed tariffs of 292 per cent against Bombardier after aerospace giant Boeing Co. filed a trade complaint against the Canadian company over its C Series passenger jet. The penalties were later overturned by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but the fallout led to Bombardier selling a majority stake in the C Series program to Airbus SE. Mehran Ebrahimi, management professor at the University of Quebec at Montreal, said his concern is that the U.S. will turn to tariffs again to hurt Bombardier. He said the President can’t target a particular company, but he can target a type of jet with certain characteristics that would end up disproportionately impacting a specific company.
“This is serious,” Mr. Ebhrami said. “This is the piece that is worrying me the most.” Mr. Trump said in July that his administration might slap levies on imports of commercial aircraft, engines and related parts after the U.S. Department of Commerce wrapped up a Section 232 investigation into the industry, concluding those imports present a national security threat. No specific companies were named in the presidential proclamation at the time. It said that without intervention, foreign imports and competition will continue to harm the U.S. industry. Many executives and legal experts say chances are low that the aerospace industry will be the subject of any drastic changes, in part because the U.S. is a major net exporter of aircraft and parts. The U.S.’s aerospace and defence sectors have maintained a positive trade surplus for more than 70 years – the only manufacturing industry in the country with a positive trade balance, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. But that doesn’t mean the President won’t try to squeeze one company for the sake of trying to gain an advantage over Canada. “It’s all performative,” said veteran aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia of management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. “I wouldn’t panic. And I wouldn’t respond.” Bombardier has responded to Mr. Trump’s threats by insisting it is a strong contributor to the U.S. aerospace industry, directly employing 3,500 workers in more than 20 states, and supporting thousands more U.S. jobs through a network of 2,800 suppliers and its growing footprint in the country.
The Canadian company builds wings for its Global 8000 jet in Red Oak, Tex., and makes components for those same wings at a facility in the Los Angeles area. It has a manufacturing site in Wichita, Kan., that serves as the company’s U.S. headquarters. Among Bombardier’s major American suppliers are engine makers GE Aerospace and Honeywell, in addition to Parker Aerospace, Collins Aerospace and GKN. Bombardier chief executive Eric Martel has said that any new American duties aimed at the company would probably cause more pain south of the border than in Canada in terms of jobs and layoffs. All of its jets have sizeable U.S. content – typically 40 per cent of the plane or more, National Bank’s Mr. Doerksen estimated in his note.
That fact isn’t lost on political and union leaders. Jerry Moran, a Republican senator from Kansas, said in a social media post that he reached out to the Trump administration on Monday to “make certain the President is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas and the importance of its presence in Wichita.” Meanwhile, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – a union representing 600,000 members, including Bombardier employees – said on Tuesday it opposes preventing the sale of Bombardier jets in the U.S.
“We continue to support common-sense trade policies that protect these good jobs, strengthen the deeply integrated North American aerospace industry, and allow our members to build world-class aircraft and export them around the globe,” the union said. “Anything that undermines the stability and continued growth of these jobs is counterproductive.” Bombardier sells its products in the United States to high net-worth individuals and companies, including fleet operators such as NetJets Inc. and Flexjet LLC. It also sells to the U.S. military. The Montreal-based company is supplying the U.S. Army with up to 14 surveillance and reconnaissance jets under the Pentagon’s HADES program, which will modify Bombardier’s Global 6500 business aircraft for military use. The company is also building high-altitude communications planes for the U.S. Air Force in a deal worth an estimated US$465-million.
Author: Nicolas Van Praet
Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bombardier-shares-fall-after-latest-trump-attack/
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