Donald Trump says he is ending all trade talks with Canada based on an anti-tariff ad the Ontario government is running featuring former U.S. President Ronald Reagan warning about the economic threats posed by tariffs.
Trump referred to Canada in his post, but the ad was commissioned by the Ontario government and contains a radio address made by Reagan in 1987 in which he says, “High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs.”
“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs,” Trump said in a late-night post on his Truth Social platform. “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.”
The Ronald Reagan Foundation says it is reviewing its legal options, noting that the ad “misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks.”
The Ford government spent $75 million on the ads, which began airing earlier this month on various news outlets in the United States, including Newsmax, Bloomberg, FOX, NBC, CBS and CNBC. They are scheduled to run until the end of January 2026.
A spokesperson for Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night, but earlier in the day said in a statement in response to the Reagan Foundation that the commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of Reagan’s public addresses, which is available through the public domain.
“President Ronald Reagan knew and spoke directly to Americans that tariffs hurt the U.S. economy, workers and families,” Ford’s office said. “He was a strong supporter of free and fair trade between Canada and America.”
Ford has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s tariff policies, often appearing on network news in the U.S. to rail against a trade war and tout Ontario’s role in a healthy economy between the two nations.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not yet responded to Trump’s statement about terminating negotiations.
Carney and Trump are both set to travel to the APEC summit in South Korea. Carney has said he looks forward to seeing the president but would also be meeting with many other countries’ leaders to talk about diversifying trade.
This is not the first time Trump has threatened to end trade talks with the Canadian government.
Back in June, the president suspended trade talks over Canada’s tax on technology firms, which he called “a direct and blatant attack on our country.”
Carney responded by rescinding the tax just hours before the first payment was due to be made.
Files from The Canadian Press and Associated Press were used in this report
