The Canada is reviewing a major purchase of US -made F -35 fighter aircraft amidst serious tension with the Canada Trump administration, a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of Defense on Saturday told the AFP.
Two days after Portugal, it was announced that it was also re -starting the potential purchase of American F -35 fighter jets amid international anger over Tariff War President Donald Trump and started his waveing support for the Atlantic alliance.
Trump provoked the US northern neighbor by putting 25 percent tariff on all Canadian products before agreeing to suspend the levy on Canadian exports covered by a North American trade treaty.
And he has regularly influenced Canadian people by suggesting his country to become a 51st American state.
In his first official acts since he took over on Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the Ministry of Defense to “determine whether the F -35 contract, as it stands, is the best investment for Canada, and if other options, which can meet Canada’s needs,” Laurent de Kaisanov, according to an email, the spokes of the ministry.
In January 2023, the Canadian government signed a contract with a huge US defense company Lockheed Martin, which was to buy 88 F -35 for a total of $ 19 billion ($ 13.2 billion).
It has already paid for the first shipment of 16, set for delivery earlier next year.
The deal has not been canceled, but “We need to do our homework given the changing environment, and make sure that the contract in its current form is in the best interest of Canadian and Canadian Armed Forces,” said in the statement.
Portugal on Thursday indicated that it was studying both the American F -35 and European aircraft as it appears to change its Air Force aging F -16.
Outgoing Defense Minister Nuno Melo raised the options in an interview on Thursday in Daily Publico, referring to “predictions of our colleagues” and “the recent status of the United States, in terms of NATO and at the level of international land.”
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