By Fergal Smith and Allison Lampert
TORONTO/MONTREAL Sept 8 (Reuters) - Bombardier shares pared earlier losses on Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened the Canadian private jet maker’s access to the lucrative U.S. market, which accounts for about half of the company’s sales.
Shares slipped 3% in morning 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. The Toronto Stock Exchange, on which Bombardier trades, was closed on Monday.
It’s not clear how Trump would bar Bombardier private jets from being delivered to American customers since they have been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Aerospace has emerged comparatively unscathed by Trump’s broader tariff war that has slapped duties on other sectors.
The White House was not immediately available for comment.
Trump has also faced some internal pushback from lawmakers in his own Republican party, as his escalating trade war with Canada emerges as an issue in some states ahead of the November midterm elections.
Bombardier has an American workforce of 3,500, a U.S. footprint of 2,800 suppliers across the country, and produces parts in traditionally Republican states like Texas. Bombardier also has its U.S.-based defense unit in Wichita, Kansas, where a factory militarize business jets produced in Canada for defense contracts.
Congressman Ron Estes, who represents Kansas’s fourth 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 Fergal Smith in Toronto, Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington;Editing by Nick Zieminski and Andrea Ricci )
