President Donald Trump abruptly ended all trade negotiations with Canada late Thursday, accusing Ottawa of using a "fraudulent" political advertisement that misrepresented former President Ronald Reagan's views on tariffs. The move, announced on Trump's Truth Social account, plunged U.S.-Canada relations into fresh uncertainty as both sides had been working for weeks to finalize a steel and aluminum trade deal.
"Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED," 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 60-second ad, produced by the Government of Ontario, features audio from Reagan's 1987 presidential radio address criticizing tariffs as harmful to jobs and consumers. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation quickly condemned the spot, saying it "misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address" and was edited "out of sequence." "The Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks," the foundation said, adding that it is exploring legal options.
The controversy erupted just days after Trump's administration imposed sweeping tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles, bringing U.S. duties to their highest levels since the 1930s. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had been negotiating a compromise, having already rolled back most of his predecessor's retaliatory tariffs. The two governments had appeared close to a limited agreement until Trump's sudden reversal.
The ad's fallout extended beyond Washington. Ontario Premier Doug Ford acknowledged this week that the video was designed to pressure the United States to reconsider its tariffs. "I heard that the president heard our ad. I'm sure he wasn't too happy," Ford said. He has urged Carney to adopt a tougher line with the White House, arguing that Trump's tariff policy "hurts everyone."
Carney, a former central bank governor, defended his country's position, telling Toronto's RED-FM last week: "The quote of former President Ronald Reagan was recognizing that ultimately somebody pays the tariff - and it's the consumer. The company passes it on, the price goes up eventually, and you pay the cost of the tariff."
Trump fired back Friday, accusing Canada of trying to "influence the U.S. Supreme Court" ahead of a hearing on the legality of his global tariff strategy. "TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A.," he posted. He also claimed Reagan "embraced tariffs," despite the late president's consistent support for open markets.
The Ontario ad spliced together five complete sentences from Reagan's five-minute address. "When someone says, 'Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing," Reagan says in the commercial. "But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer." The address originally defended Reagan's limited tariffs on Japan as an "unavoidable exception" within his broader free-trade philosophy.
Trump's withdrawal from trade talks marks another setback in his complex relationship with Carney, whom he previously praised as "a smart man but a tough one." Negotiations between U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc were scheduled this week but are now in limbo.
The incident comes as both leaders prepare to attend the ASEAN and APEC summits in Asia. Carney is expected to depart Friday morning, while Trump told reporters he would "raise the tariff issue directly." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump viewed the ad as "an attack on American sovereignty."
Meanwhile, the Reagan Foundation urged viewers to "watch President Reagan's unedited video" online to understand the full context. The foundation's rebuke echoed a similar incident in 2019 when China used the same Reagan clip to mock U.S. tariff policy during the earlier trade war.
