Trump terminates trade talks with Canada over anti-tariff advertisement
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an immediate end to trade negotiations with Canada after the country aired an advertisement criticizing tariffs using a speech by former President Ronald Reagan.
Posting on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump said the ad, sponsored by the Ontario government, featured Reagan “speaking negatively about tariffs” and accused Canada of “egregious behavior,” News.Az reports, citing BBC.
“Based on their egregious behavior, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated,” Trump wrote.
The decision marks a new low in U.S.-Canada relations amid escalating trade tensions. Trump has already imposed a 35% tariff on Canadian imports, with exemptions for goods covered under the USMCA trade deal he negotiated during his first term.
The ad, part of a C$75 million ($54 million) campaign, used edited excerpts from a 1987 Reagan address warning that tariffs “hurt every American worker and consumer” and “trigger fierce trade wars.”
The Ronald Reagan Foundation criticized the Ontario government for using the footage without permission, saying the ad “misrepresents” Reagan’s remarks and that it is “reviewing legal options.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a longtime critic of Trump’s trade policies, defended the campaign, saying his province “will never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada.” Ontario has been among the hardest hit by U.S. tariffs, especially in the steel and automotive sectors.
Ford previously warned he would consider cutting power exports to the U.S. in response to earlier tariff threats, accusing Washington of “pulling a knife and yanking it into us.”
Neither Ford nor Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has commented on Trump’s latest statement.
The dispute comes weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on the legality of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs — a case seen as a major test of his presidential authority.
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