American workers at Bombardier’s U.S. headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, say they are worried about their jobs as President Donald Trump escalates his fight with Canada and the Canadian jet manufacturer.
“No more selling Bombardier in the United States,” Trump said last week. “If they want our market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.’”
But Bombardier already has a significant footprint in America. The company employs roughly 3,500 people nationwide, including more than 1,200 in Wichita, and works with approximately 2,800 American suppliers across 47 states. It spends more than $2.5 billion annually with U.S. suppliers.
Bombardier is currently recruiting to fill 500 open U.S. jobs.
“This is ridiculous,” one Wichita employee told the Washington Post. “We have thousands of Americans working here, and I don’t want to be thinking about losing my job.”
Being shut out of the U.S. market could be economically catastrophic for Bombardier, with American customers accounting for more than half of the jet maker’s total sales revenue.
“I’ve talked with people who think this is all a game of some kind that he’s playing,” another employee said. “And that’s crazy to me. I don’t think he cares about us and our jobs versus using us as a pawn.”
“Our lives should be treated with more respect than that,” the employee added.
Bombardier raised the same concern in its response to Trump, emphasizing just how much American labor and manufacturing goes into its aircraft.
“Bombardier aircraft are built with American-made components such as engines, avionics, and many more key systems provided by great American companies,” the company said.
Bombardier has operations across more than 20 states, including major facilities in Kansas, Texas, California, and Florida.
Trump’s threat also caught the attention of Kansas lawmakers. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) contacted the Trump administration to make sure the president was aware of Bombardier’s “significant contributions” to Kansas. Jim Howell, a Republican commissioner in Sedgwick County, said a ban could “be devastating to Bombardier” and result in a “huge loss.”
Aviation consultant Rolland Vincent said cutting a Canadian manufacturer out of the American market is not as simple as it sounds because modern aircraft rely on supply chains that cross national borders.
“There’s no aircraft that’s built that has pure national origin,” Vincent said.
Still, Vincent cautioned against dismissing Trump’s warning.
“It’s a serious threat from a serious person,” he said. “Nobody wants to be on the headline when it comes to the anger of someone who’s got the power of the president.”
It’s not Trump’s first threat against Bombardier. In January, he suggested that he would revoke certifications for Bombardier’s jets and impose a 50% tariff on Canadian aircraft. Those threats were never carried out.
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