Trump signals reversal on Bombardier threats after Kansas senator intervention

President Donald Trump has signalled a reversal on threats he made earlier this year to decertify Bombardier's aircraft and impose a 50 percent tariff on Canadian-built jets, according to Flying Magazine.

Speaking to KWCH-TV in Wichita, Kansas ahead of a campaign rally, Trump said he intended to 'take good care' of Bombardier. At the rally itself, Reuters reported that Trump said he would help a 'certain air company get themselves straightened away,' referring to Bombardier. 'I'll be helping them because I always viewed them as a Canadian company,' Trump said. 'But now I find out they have a presence here, and we're not hurting them if they're in Kansas. So we'll take care of those people and the jobs.'

Trump explicitly credited a phone call from Republican Senator Roger Marshall—one of several Kansas lawmakers who had pushed back against his previous threats—with swaying his position.

For Bombardier customers, the remarks offer relief from months of uncertainty, though Flying Magazine notes they are not firm evidence that the president intends to drop his threats entirely. The reversal comes less than two months after Trump vowed to shut the manufacturer out of the U.S. market unless it shifted more manufacturing stateside.

Background on Trump's earlier threats

Trump first targeted Bombardier in January, threatening to decertify its aircraft operating in the U.S. and impose a 50 percent tariff on Canadian-built aircraft. He accused Canadian authorities of unfairly delaying certification of U.S.-manufactured Gulfstream jets, specifically the G500, G600, G700, and G800, and singled out Bombardier's Global Express for aircraft revocation.

Bombardier's U.S. footprint

Bombardier employs approximately 1,500 people in Wichita, Kansas, which is home to its U.S. headquarters, defense division, and a major service and flight test center. The company employs about 3,500 people across the U.S., including in Texas, California, and Florida. Bombardier recently invested $50 million to expand site capabilities and train new aviation personnel in Wichita.

Though Bombardier handles final assembly of its Challenger and Global families in Canada, the manufacturer is in the midst of what a company spokesperson described to Flying Magazine in September as a large-scale American expansion. According to Canada's CBC, more than half of Bombardier's revenue comes from American customers, and more than half of the value of its Global 7500 derives from American parts.