Donald Trump has said he is cancelling “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing US tariffs. The ad, he claimed, misstated the facts and showcased “egregious behaviour” aimed at influencing US court decisions. The post on the US President’s Truth Social platform late on Thursday came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside America due to the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.
The Republican firebrand’s call for an abrupt end to talks could further intensify trade tensions between the two countries that have been building in recent months. In the social media post, Trump wrote: “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,” Trump claimed.
“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.”
Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute put out a post on X claiming that an 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 alleged that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.”
The foundation added that it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.
The latest trade row between the two nations comes only a fortnight after Carney visited Trump at the White House in Washington DC as he sought to secure a relaxation of bruising US tariffs.
The Canadian PM and Trump are both setting off on Friday for international summits in Asia.
It comes as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6billion Canadian (around £1.9bn) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
Earlier this week Trump said he had seen the ad on television and said that it showed that his tariffs were having an impact.
“I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said at the time.
In his own post on X last week, Doug Ford, 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,” he continued. “The way to prosperity is by working together.”
Ford previously got Trump’s attention with an electricity surcharge to US states. Trump responded by doubling steel and aluminium tariffs.
The 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.
Trump’s tariffs have especially hurt Canada’s auto sector, much of which is based in Ontario. This month, Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois, in the US.