President Donald Trump said the U.S. has “terminated” trade negotiations with Canada over an advertising campaign against tariffs that allegedly misused an audio clip from former President Ronald Reagan.
“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 posted on Truth Social on Thursday night. “Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
The government of Ontario launched earlier this month a television ad, which is said to have cost $75,000,000 Canadian dollars (about US$54 million) and is expected to run through January on networks including Newsmax, Fox, and NBC. The ad quotes from Reagan’s April 25, 1987 ‘Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.’
“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works—but only for a short time,” the ad, which splices together quotes from Reagan’s speech, says. “Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.”
Trump argued that the ad aims to “interfere” with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of the President’s tariffs. The court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case on Nov. 5. He also shared a statement from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that claimed the ad “misrepresents” Reagan’s speech by using “selective” audio and video and that “the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks.”
Reagan’s address came before the former President’s meeting with Japan’s then-Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone over economic relations between the U.S. and Japan. Reagan had imposed duties at the end of March 1987 on $300 million of Japanese products alleging that Japan had engaged in practices that violated a 1986 semiconductor trade agreement with the U.S. In his address, Reagan emphasized the importance of free trade, while defending his decision to impose 100% tariffs on affected products.
Trump’s comments come after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s non-U.S. exports amid Trump’s tariffs. Trump and Carney met earlier this month in a bid to relieve trade tensions and are both expected to attend the ASEAN and APEC summits next week, while the two countries and Mexico are due to review the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement next year, which Trump negotiated during his first term. Canada and Mexico have deepened ties, including promising to boost bilateral trade.
“Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada,” Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, posted last week alongside the ad. “The way to prosperity is by working together.”
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