Trump terminates all U.S. trade negotiations with Canada over Reagan tariffs TV ad
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he was terminating all trade negotiations with Canada because the Ontario provincial government aired an ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.
Trump’s announcement accused Canada of trying to influence a pending U.S. Supreme Court case that could doom many of his tariffs, including ones on Canada.
His statement came after The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said that the ad misrepresents a presidential radio address Reagan delivered in April 1987, and that his remarks were edited without permission.
The foundation did not say what was misleading.
But it encouraged people to listen to an unedited video of his address on its YouTube channel. It also said it was reviewing its legal options.
“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 wrote in a Truth Social post.
“They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” he said.
“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,” Trump wrote.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Oct. 14 that the province would spend $75 million on ads to run in the United States featuring Reagan criticizing tariffs.
“And we’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country,” said Ford, who called himself a “big Ronald Reagan fan.”
Ford posted the ad on X on Oct. 16.
On the ad, Reagan is heard saying, “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,” Reagan says over images of American landscapes, domestic scenes, and workplaces.
“But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”
Trump has made tariffs a centerpiece of his second term in the White House.
Thursday was the second time that Trump said he was terminating trade talks with Canada.
On June 27, he said the United States was “terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada” in response to Ottawa’s decision to impose a digital services tax on American tech firms.
Canada rescinded that tax two days later.
