Trump says his threat to tariff Canadian aircraft started from a conversation with a wealthy friend

U.S. President Donald Trump said 50 per cent tariffs targeting Canada’s aircraft industry was prompted by a complaint from a friend who couldn’t buy the corporate jet of his choosing.

Trump made the remark during a six-minute-long rant about Canada in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

“I had a case about a week ago, where a friend of mine was buying a Gulfstream jet, and he said, ‘You know, it’s a crazy thing. We’re not able — that Canada won’t certify Gulfstream,’” Trump said.

“Gulfstream is the best private jet, you know, the best of the best,” he noted, adding that Canada “won’t certify it because they make a competitor, Bombardier Global Express.”

The unprompted remark appeared to be a glimpse into what was behind his threat to decertify Canadian-made aircraft and impose 50 per cent tariff on sales back in January.

The friend was close to Gulfstream, Trump said, and had asked the head of the company to arrange a call with him and explain the situation.

“We called, we spoke,” he said, adding that the head of Gulfstream told him the American manufacturer had spent $60 million trying to get certified in Canada for “nine years without success.”

“So I immediately said, ‘I’m putting a major tariff on Bombardier and other things that they sent until they’re certified,'” Trump said.

“They got certified in two hours.”

He had spoken to the prime minister, Trump said, without naming Mark Carney directly.

“Essentially (Gulfstream) can’t sell any plane in anything having to do with Canada, but Bombardier has free rein over the United States,” Trump said, while noting they were both “very good planes.”

“I said, ‘So what we’re going to do is, we’re going to charge you tariffs on various products, including Bombardier,’” he added. “We put a nice big tariff. And within 30 minutes, I guess it took maybe less, everything got certified.”

In February, Transport Canada granted regulatory approval to two business jets produced by Gulfstream. It came nearly four weeks after Trump had threatened to decertify Bombardier and impose 50 per cent tariffs on all aircraft sold by Canada to the United States.

Trump’s anecdote was part of a litany of complaints he had about Canada’s trade practices amid a trade war between the two countries covering roughly 5 per cent of Canadian exports. Trump was answering a question on his plans to renew trade talks with Ottawa.

In his response, Trump said the U.S. does not need “anything” from Canada, adding that its leaders were “emboldened,” and was “toughest” to deal with. The remarks were made during a meeting with travel executives to mark the end of the summer season.

“We can’t lose 60 to $100 billion dollars for the privilege of allowing them to make cars; we don’t want their cars,” Trump added. However, in reality, the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Canada in the auto sector, according to RBC.