US President Donald Trump says he plans to raise tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an additional 10 percent over an anti-tariff television advertisement aired by the province of Ontario.
The ad used the words of former US President Ronald Reagan to criticize US tariffs, which angered Trump, who said he would end trade talks with Canada in response earlier this week.
The images of Reagan are from a radio speech he gave in April 1987, and are available in full on the Reagan Library’s official YouTube channel.
“In the long run, such trade barriers will hurt every American worker and consumer,” Reagan said in the comments of the ad during the speech.
Later in the speech, the former US president added: “When someone initially says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it seems like they are doing something patriotic by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while, it works. But only for a short time.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would withdraw the ad after the weekend, and it ran on Friday evening (local time) during the first game of the baseball World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Their ad was supposed to be removed IMMEDIATELY, but they allowed it to appear last night during the World Series knowing it was fraud,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform as he flew aboard Air Force One to Malaysia.
“Because of their serious misrepresentation and hostile act, I am increasing Canada’s rate by 10% above what they are currently paying.”
The two countries have been discussing a possible deal for the steel and aluminum sectors for weeks.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the ads would be removed after the weekend. Source: MONKEY / AP/Nathan Denette
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will both attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia.
But Trump told reporters traveling with him that he had no plans to meet Carney there.
Carney said on Saturday (AEDT) that Canada is ready for further trade talks as soon as the United States is ready
“We stand ready to pick up and build on that progress when Americans are ready,” he told reporters.
“We have no control over the trade policy of the United States.”
— Associated Press reporting via the Australian Associated Press, with additional reporting by Reuters.
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