By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson
MONTREAL/WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Bombardier is continuing to recruit American workers to fill 500 open jobs in the U.S., the Canadian private jet maker told Reuters on Wednesday, even as it faces threats from President Donald Trump to ban its planes from the U.S. market.
Some of the jobs are for a new service center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is set to open in mid-November.
Bombardier planes are still able to be delivered to U.S. customers despite Trump’s threat to ban the Montreal-based company from the market amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada, industry sources said.
The aerospace sector was not impacted by the latest round of retaliatory measures introduced by the U.S. against Canada on Tuesday.
A White House official said on Wednesday the Trump administration is preparing options and actions on Bombardier. Trump agreed last year to reinstate a multi-decade deal that places tariff-free status on airplanes and components.
Fears that Bombardier could lose access to a market which accounts for about half of its sales have led some Republican lawmakers to reach out to the White House.
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican running for re-election in November, said he would fight to save Bombardier jobs in his state, where the company employs about 1,500 people.
“I’ve already taken that concern inside the Oval Office,” he said on X on Tuesday.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas said on Monday he had reached out to the Trump administration “to make certain the president is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas.”
Trump’s threat against Bombardier risks worsening an already bitter trade dispute with Canada. Democrats have seized upon the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration as a key issue in their effort to win back control of Congress in the midterm elections in November.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)
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