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Canadian officials are again seriously reconsidering the country’s commitment to purchasing US-made F-35 fighter jets after President Trump announced steep new trade penalties on Canadian aircraft.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Last week, President Trump made headlines after announcing on Truth Social that he would impose a 50% tariff on all Canadian-made aircraft sold to the United States. The move came in response to what he described as Canada’s “wrongful, illegal, and steadfast” refusal to certify several US-made Gulfstream jets, including the G500, G600, G700, and G800 models. Trump said that due to this, he would be “decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada.” The threat directly targets major Canadian aerospace firms, particularly Bombardier, one of Canada’s largest aircraft manufacturers and a key player in the country’s aviation sector.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Mark Carney to scale back or cancel Canada’s multibillion-dollar F-35 procurement. Vincent Rigby, who served as national security and intelligence adviser to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, warned that “the escalating rhetoric from Washington has pushed a lot of policymakers in Canada to rethink the defense relationship between the two neighbors.” He added, “We should be buying less from the United States and diversifying our defense relationships… This is a real, real departure.”
Current discussions inside the Canadian defense establishment reportedly include the possibility of cutting the planned F-35 fleet from 88 jets down to as few as 40, while replacing the remainder with up to 80 Swedish-built Saab Gripen E fighters. According to sources cited by the National Post, half of the remaining investment in Canada’s fighter program could be redirected toward this non-US alternative, seen by many in Canada as a way to hedge against political risk and reclaim industrial leverage.
Meanwhile, US officials are actively trying to keep Canada on board. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra warned in a CBC interview that if Ottawa pulled back from the F-35 program, it could impact NORAD, the joint US-Canada aerospace defense alliance. “If Canada decided to significantly reduce its investment in the F-35, that would create a significant gap in the defense structure of North America,” he said. Hoekstra went on to suggest that the US might have to “fly warplanes into Canada’s airspace more frequently,” sparking political backlash in Canada and accusations of using military pressure as a bargaining chip. The State Department later walked back the comments, claiming Hoekstra’s remarks were “taken out of context.”
This comes as a recent poll by EKOS showed that 72% of Canadians support some form of Gripen acquisition.
