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Donald Trump has said he is ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada after the release of a television ad opposing US tariffs. The US president accused Canada of “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing US court decisions.
The Thursday night post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.
Trump posted: “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 president wrote: “They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US supreme court, and other courts”. He added: “Tariffs are very important to the national security, and economy, of the USA. Based on their egregious behaviour, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated.”
Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night. The prime minister was set to leave on Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same on Friday evening.
Earlier on Thursday, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation + Institute posted on X that the 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 added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks”.
The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.
Carney met Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the US-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 US, and nearly C$3.6bn (US$2.7bn) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
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 US has launched.”
He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”
