US President Donald Trump has threatened to block Canadian planemaker Bombardier from selling aircraft in the United States unless it relocates its manufacturing there, escalating trade tensions between the two countries. The warning, posted on Truth Social, came hours before Canada was due to impose retaliatory tariffs on $20bn (£14.7bn) of US goods, and follows the collapse of trade talks last month after which Washington imposed 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods. It remains unclear how Trump intends to enforce such a ban, given Bombardier's existing US operations.

Montreal-based Bombardier already runs a Kansas factory employing 3,500 American workers, along with sites in eight other US states, and around half of its 5,100-strong aircraft fleet is operated by US-based customers; its jets also comply with the USMCA trade agreement Trump signed during his first term. The company, which contributed C$7.4bn to Canada's GDP in 2024 and is a major employer in Quebec, said it valued its US partnerships and planned to keep investing in its American operations without directly addressing Trump's threat. Quebec premier Christine Fréchette called Bombardier "a flagship of our economy" and said she would not respond to "provocation with provocation".