Canada OK's latest Gulfstream business jets after Trump tariff threat
· Toronto Sun
Canada has approved all Gulfstream business jets less than a month after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs.
According to a departmental document, Transport Canada certified the Savannah, Ga.-based company’s G700 and G800 jets on Monday, eight days after green-lighting two older Gulfstream models. The move allows the jets to be sold in Canada and gives a major rival of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. a bigger foothold in the country.
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Trump warned last month he would decertify and place tariffs on all Canadian-made planes unless the government approved the four Gulfstream luxury aircraft, marking the latest escalation of trade tensions between the two countries.
Even the U.S.’ FAA concerned
Transport Canada has given the go-ahead despite de-icing concerns flagged by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has granted the G700 and G800 conditional certification.
The FAA said Gulfstream, owned by General Dynamics , has until the end of this year to prove that the two plane types function “properly under the probable operating conditions where ice may form in the fuel system,” according to a temporary exemption granted in 2024.
Pressure applied?
Experts are asking if Canadian regulators submitted to political pressure by approving the jets.
“It’s a slippery slope if we accede to a foreign government’s pressure or dictates to cut corners,” said Richard Leblanc, professor of governance, law and ethics at York University, though he clarified he was not suggesting that occurred here.
“Transport Canada should disclose, given the coincidence, what were the circumstances and why,” he said. “Is something now being certified that was less than adequate earlier?”
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon stressed that nothing untoward had taken place.
“I don’t get involved in certification of aircraft, other than to make sure officials are always keeping people’s safety in mind,” he told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday. “Canada should be very proud that we have among the most exacting standards in the world. We work very closely with the FAA, with the European regulator, and we will continue to do that.”
— With files from the Canadian Press