By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson
MONTREAL/WASHINGTON Sept 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to ban Bombardier jets from the United States began to backfire on Tuesday after Republicans in Kansas, where Bombardier employs around 1,500, vowed to protect those jobs ahead of a key November election.
Fears over Bombardier losing access to a market which accounts for about half of the company’s sales led some Republican lawmakers to reach out to the White House, as their Democratic rivals jumped on the issue in the largely red state.
Roger Marshall, a Republican U.S. senator for Kansas who is running for re-election, said he would fight to save Bombardier jobs in his state. “I’ve already taken that concern inside the Oval Office,” he said. Bombardier has 3,500 jobs in the U.S., more than 40% of which are in Wichita, Kansas.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who is not up for re-election this year, said on Monday that he reached out to the Trump administration “to make certain the president is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas.”
The threat against Bombardier risks escalating an already widening U.S. trade war with the country’s northern neighbor that is emerging as an election issue ahead of the critical November midterms.
Democrat Adam Hamilton, who is running against Marshall for Senate, said on X on Monday that Bombardier supports 1,500 Kansas families with good-paying jobs and “now the president is trying to take that away.”
It’s a change for the highly integrated aerospace sector, which has emerged comparatively unscathed by Trump’s broader tariff war that has slapped duties on other industries like autos.
Three aviation lawyers interviewed by Reuters said it was not immediately clear how Trump could bar Bombardier private jets from being delivered to American customers since they have been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The White House has not commented.
Threats by Trump in February to decertify Bombardier aircraft over a certification spat involving U.S. rival Gulfstream Aerospace never materialized, with regulator Transport Canada eventually approving the American-made jets.
In both cases, however, Trump’s comments created uncertainty and confusion among U.S. customers looking to take Bombardier planes, even as the IAM, the largest North American aerospace union, said it opposed Trump barring the jets.
“It’s creating a lot of anxiety on both sides of the border,” said David Hernandez, an attorney with Vedder Price in Washington. “This makes no sense.”
Hernandez said one client expecting to take a Bombardier jet at the end of October asked him on Tuesday whether the threat was a big deal. While the administration has not yet blocked any planes, lawyers must still take the threat seriously, he said.
Ehsan Monfared, an attorney and partner at YYZlaw in Toronto, said there is no indication of any pushback from Americans looking to buy pre-owned Bombardier business jets from his Canadian clients.
Monfared said the sentiment in the business aviation industry is that Trump risks alienating supporters and wealthy donors if he banned deliveries of Bombardier aircraft.
“There are probably too many orders by supporters of the administration that would be impacted by such a move for this policy to ever be implemented,” he said. “And the legal basis of it is questionable anyways.”
Bombardier shares slipped 3.6% in midday trade after opening down 6.4%.
Trump made the threat in a post on Monday as a trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa escalates, with Canada introducing counter tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Congressman Ron Estes, a Republican who represents Kansas’ 4th district, said on Monday night on the social media site X that he opposes tariffs on aerospace, and defended the Canadian planemaker’s contribution to his state.
“Bombardier supports an extensive American supply chain, boasts maintenance and repair capabilities across the U.S., and is trusted by our military for critical national security missions.”
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto. Editing by Nick Zieminski and Andrea Ricci)
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