Question Period Note: CANADA’S AEROSPACE SECTOR - IMPACT OF U.S. TARIFFS
About
- Reference number:
- IND-2025-QP-00002
- Date received:
- May 30, 2025
- Organization:
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
- Name of Minister:
- Joly, Mélanie (Hon.)
- Title of Minister:
- Minister of Industry
Issue/Question:
What has been the impact of U.S. tariffs on Canada’s aerospace sector?
Suggested Response:
• The Government of Canada is committed to maintaining a strong Canadian aerospace industry and the good-paying jobs that come with it.
• The Canadian and U.S. aerospace industries are highly connected, and spur innovation and economic growth on both sides of the border.
• Canada is making investments in the aerospace industry to strengthen it and build a strong Canadian economy that is connected to reliable trade partners.
• U.S. tariffs are hurting million of people on both sides of the border by raising costs, raising prices, and lowering demand.
• Canada will continue to engage the U.S. to remove all tariffs.
Background:
• On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an investigation to determine whether imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and parts affect U.S. national security.
• The Government of Canada continues to argue that Canadian aerospace products do not constitute a national security risk for the U.S. In fact, the Canadian products currently under review contribute to a broader North American resilience and security, from which both Canada and the U.S. benefit.
Additional Information:
The Canadian aerospace sector is of national strategic importance to Canada and a key industry for Canada’s national security. In 2023, it contributed $28.9 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and 218,000 jobs to Canada’s economy. Investing $1.2 billion in research and development (R&D) in 2023, the sector is Canada’s largest R&D spender among manufacturing industries. It also leads all manufacturing industries in exports, with 75 percent of revenues generated from international markets.
National in scope, Canada’s aerospace sector is home to a wide range of industry-leading manufacturers of aerospace products, including aircraft, helicopters, engines, simulators, landing gear, and aerostructures and components as well as space robotics and satellite systems for communications and Earth observation. The industry also supplies a wide array of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft and aircraft components.
Canada and the U.S. share a deep and longstanding industrial relationship in aerospace characterized by highly integrated supply chains and significant cross-border investments in products, facilities, R&D, and labour.
The aerospace sector is highly export oriented with the U.S. comprising 66 percent of Canada’s current global exports. Currently, Canadian exports of aerospace products that are CUSMA compliant enter the U.S. duty free. REDACTED
On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of commercial aircraft and jet engines, and parts for commercial aircraft and jet engines. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and could eventually lead to the imposition of new tariffs.