US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has threatened to revoke FAA certification for any Canadian-made aircraft, which if it went ahead would ground more than 5,000 jets operating in American airspace.
The warning from Trump follows a protracted dispute between the two countries around the certification of several American-made Gulfstream business jets slated for operation in Canada.
Alongside the threat to decertify all Canadian-made aircraft, Trump is also reportedly considering a 50% tariff on all planes exported to the United States from its northern neighbour until the Gulfstream planes dispute is resolved.
The focus of Trump’s threats has been on Canada’s Quebec-based Bombardier business, and could include prohibiting the operation of Airbus A220s assembled by the company and deployed by major American carriers such as Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and Breeze Airways.
In response, Canada’s largest union, Unifor, has called on all levels of government to take “decisive action” to protect the country’s aerospace industry amid the escalating trade war.
“History is full of examples of the United States weakening and destabilising Canadian aerospace manufacturing…and now Trump is threatening our world-class global jet program,” Unifor said.
“Make no mistake, this latest threat is a continued attack on Canada’s industrial economy and good union jobs.”
“We are calling on the Canadian Government to contact their US counterparts immediately to defuse this situation and to take concrete action here at home to…protect our jobs.”
The White House has not yet released any formal executive order or regulatory process establishing how Canadian aircraft would be decertified.
It should be noted that the FAA is responsible for making such decisions and not the US President, with some observers suggesting the threat is simply rhetoric designed to gain leverage in the highly publicised dispute.
However, the Trump Administration has previously been accused of trying to dilute the FAA’s oversight through consolidation and restructuring, and has also blamed staff at the safety body for several air disasters over the last year.
