NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Wichita Mayor Lily Wu about President Trump’s tariff war with Canada, Bombardier aircrafts, and the trade war’s potential impact on her city.
Transcript
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
One of the U.S. cities concerned about President Trump’s trade war with Canada is Wichita, Kansas. Wichita is the U.S. headquarters for the Canadian aircraft company Bombardier. And this week, Trump threatened to ban the sale of Bombardier jets in the United States. The company employs about 3,500 people across the U.S. Fifteen hundred of those jobs are in Wichita. That makes Bombardier a big employer by local standards. Those are jobs the city doesn’t want to lose. So we have called Wichita Mayor Lily Wu. She is a libertarian. Mayor Wu, thank you for making time for us.
LILY WU: Thank you very much, Sacha, and thank you to your listeners.
PFEIFFER: Beneath Trump’s argument, his claim is that Canada and many of its companies are taking advantage of the U.S. market, and as a result, U.S. companies are losing out. What do you think when you hear that argument?
WU: Well, first and foremost, as the air capital of the world, we’re always advocating for the jobs that we have in our community but also want to continue expanding our aerospace manufacturing workforce. So we have a lot of employees that are part of Boeing, Textron, Bombardier. And so for us, we want to make sure that we continue having a strong advanced manufacturing workforce in the air capital but also know that our federal partners are helping advocate for our city.
PFEIFFER: And do you think that Canada is somehow making that harder or taking advantage of Wichita in some way?
WU: Bombardier has been a good partner with the city of Wichita when it comes to employees. We have about 1,500 people employed at Bombardier Wichita offices, and we appreciate that in that sphere they’re supporting not just the employees but their families, and the livelihood of those individuals is what we will continue advocating for.
PFEIFFER: I feel like you’re sort of dancing around this a little bit. I want to see if you basically agree with Donald Trump’s premise. Do you feel that somehow Bombardier is getting a better deal being based in Wichita than Wichita is getting from hosting Bombardier?
WU: I think Wichita is getting a fair deal right now and getting the employees we currently have, but I always advocate for Bombardier to continue growing its footprint in Wichita. And so if that is what our federal partners are also asking for, then we’re in alignment.
PFEIFFER: NPR’s chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley mentioned to us this morning that Boeing, another aircraft maker, is a company that Trump has held up as American made. But Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners may be manufactured in the U.S., but their parts are sourced from all over the world. So I’m wondering how sound or not sound you view Trump’s reasoning here.
WU: So as someone who graduated from Wichita State University with an international business degree, I know how interconnected our entire world economy is. So I’m always advocating for the aerospace industry, and that includes not just the main companies that are here, but also the suppliers that help make sure that those aircraft are safe and available in our world. And so I would say that we need to always be mindful that when we talk about jobs here in Wichita through these aircraft companies, they also affect the suppliers that give us those products, not just in the U.S. but also abroad.
PFEIFFER: Your state, Kansas, is a solidly red state, and Trump won Kansas in the 2024 election. Mayor Wu, I mentioned that you’re a libertarian. You’re also a former Republican. Do you count yourself as a Trump supporter?
WU: I count myself as a strong Kansan and a strong American, and I will always advocate for our city, our state and the United States. And I will always advocate for the air capital of the world. And I want people to know that there are jobs here, and we want more jobs in our community.
PFEIFFER: We know that President Trump makes a lot of threats, including on social media, as he did in this case, and sometimes nothing comes of it. Other times, maybe Wichita might benefit from Trump’s threat by getting more jobs. Do you think that’s a possibility – that this could make an improvement for the city?
WU: I’m hoping that Bombardier will continue to see Wichita as the best place to have this talented and skilled workforce and that they want to continue expanding. So I’m hopeful that this will be something that is positive for the city of Wichita.
PFEIFFER: That is the mayor of Wichita, Kansas, Lily Wu. Thank you for your time.
WU: Thank you, Sacha.
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