What did Donald Trump do today?

He celebrated Labor Day in the United States by trying to move Canadian jobs to Brazil.

Trump continued attacking Canada today via what may be the only tool he has left: social media. In a post this morning, he declared "NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!" Bombardier is a Canadian jet manufacturer that produced many of the medium-sized passenger jets currently in use by regional airlines.

A Bombardier CRJ-700

 

It's not clear whether Trump was declaring his intention to make such sales illegal, or whether he was simply exhorting US airlines not to buy them. If it was intended as a threat, it's one that's he's made before, but never followed through on. In January, he said he would order the FAA—which is responsible for aircraft safety, not international trade—to decertify Bombardier aircraft. This would have instantly crippled air travel in the United States, as hundreds of Bombardier jets are in currently in service. (White House spokespeople quickly walked back Trump's empty threat.) 

Trump framed his rant as defending Gulfstream, a US-based manufacturer of private jets. But Gulfstream wouldn't benefit from airlines being unable to buy Bombardier jets: it doesn't make passenger jets for airlines. Instead, the most likely beneficiaries of such an action would either be the Brazilian-based Embraer or the Chinese company AVIC Chengdu. Both of those companies are known to have benefited from the kind of illegal state support that Trump is accusing Canada of—and that he is now trying to do on behalf of Gulfstream.

Last week, Trump gave reporters a hint of why he was rushing to prop up Gulfstream when he told them about a conversation he'd had with an unnamed friend—presumably a Canadian—who complained that he couldn't buy a Gulfstream jet because Canada hadn't certified the model he wanted. That is, to put it mildly, unlikely: private jets are usually owned by shell companies and can be "flagged" anywhere and flown into Canada without issue. But Trump thinks of himself as a connoisseur of luxury aircraft—he admitted himself that he chose the specific plane he wanted Qatar to "give" him—and may simply be siding with Gulfstream out of brand loyalty.
 

Why does this matter?

• Firing off random shots at the behest of wealthy "friends" isn't a great trade strategy. 

• Americans who can't afford their own private jets (or demand that they be given one from foreign heads of state) have a little more skin in the game than Donald Trump here. 

• Repeating threats you didn't make good on the first time is a good way to not be taken seriously the second time either.