US President Donald Trump has announced on social media that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of recent television advertisement protesting US tariffs.
Trump posted that the Ronald Reagan Foundation has “just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”
“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts.
“TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Donald Trump
Earlier, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute posted on X that the ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.”
It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.” The foundation said that it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.
Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week that the advertisement in question, featuring President Reagan criticising tariffs on foreign goods while saying that they caused job losses and trade wars, had caught Trump’s attention. “I heard that the President heard our ad,” Ford said on Tuesday, adding, “I’m sure he wasn’t too happy.”
In his own post on X last week, the Premier of Ontario, posted a link to the ad and the message: “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.”
“Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”
Doug Ford
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US, and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion USD) worth of goods and services cross the border daily
Canada To Double Exports To Other Countries Over Trump Tariffs
Trump’s post comes after Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney said that he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.
Carney also told reporters that Canada would not allow unfair US access to its markets if talks on various trade deals with Washington fail.
Canada and the US have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal after Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and autos earlier this year, prompting Canada to respond in kind.
Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on.
The US President has moved to impose steep US tariffs on many goods from Canada. In April, Canada’s government imposed retaliatory levies on certain US goods – but it carved out exemptions for some automakers to bring specific numbers of vehicles into the country, known as remission quotas.
Trump’s tariffs have especially hurt Canada’s auto sector, much of which is based in Ontario. This month, the giant automaker Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois.
