At roughly the same moment that Canada was preparing to impose retaliatory tariffs on C$20 billion worth of American goods, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social with a blunt ultimatum: Bombardier, the Montreal-based jet manufacturer, could no longer sell in the United States unless it relocated its production there. "If they want our Market, they must build here," Trump wrote, accusing the company of treating America "like a piggybank." The post landed without any accompanying legal mechanism to explain how such a ban might actually be enforced. The threat sits awkwardly against Bombardier's existing American footprint.

The company already employs 3,500 workers at a factory in Wichita, Kansas, which produces special-mission military aircraft, and maintains operations across at least nine additional US states, from Texas to New Jersey. Approximately half of its global fleet — some 5,100 aircraft — is currently operated by American customers. In 2024, Bombardier contributed C$7.4 billion to Canada's GDP, making it one of the country's largest private employers and a cornerstone of Quebec's manufacturing economy.

Bombardier's formal response conspicuously avoided engaging with Trump's threat on its own terms. Instead, the company's statement emphasised that its operations "create tens of thousands of US jobs" and that it "values its great partnership with American companies." Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette struck a similarly measured tone, offering the provincial government's full support to CEO Éric Martel while declining to escalate rhetorically. "I will not respond to provocation with provocation," she wrote on X.