Canada approves all Gulfstream jets, ‘backing down’ to Trump’s tariff threats

South China Morning Post · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Canada’s aviation regulator certified the remaining Gulfstream private jet models that US President Donald Trump asked it to approve, a move which let the White House claim a win in its trade dispute with Canada.The certifications of Gulfstream’s GVIII-700 and GVIII-800 models, the largest business aircraft made by the unit of General Dynamics, were issued on Monday by Transport Canada.Trump said on January 29 that Canada had “wrongfully, illegally” refused to certify Gulfstream jets. Unless the matter was fixed, he said, the US would decertify all aircraft made in Canada – targeting Bombardier directly – and levy a 50 per cent tariff against Canadian-made aircraft.The other models mentioned by Trump, the GVII-G500 and the GVII-G600, were approved on February 15.“This is the Art of the Deal in real time,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media, saying Canada’s transport department “backed down” thanks to Trump’s negotiating skills.“This is a HUGE win for US manufacturing and why an AMERICA FIRST President is exactly what our country needs,” he said.