President Trump ends trade talks with Canada over President Reagan’s tariff ads
President Donald Trump says he is ending trade negotiations with Canada after he accused President Ronald Reagan of using him in an ad denouncing tariffs and trade wars.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Nov. 1 that he has apologized to President Donald Trump after an ad run by his state government infuriated the U.S. leader and prompted a halt to trade negotiations.
“I apologized to the president,” Carney told reporters in South Korea.
The ad, run by the Ontario government rather than the Canadian federal government, ran during the World Series and featured snippets of former President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 remarks. In his remarks, President Reagan was critical of tariffs. The ad contained the conservative icon’s exact words, but phrases taken from longer speeches were strung together. President Trump criticized this as “FAKE.”
In response, President Trump announced on social media that he was ending trade negotiations with Canada, claiming that the ad misrepresented President Reagan’s views. He also announced a 10% increase in tariffs on products imported from the United States’ northern neighbor. His move comes as the president has imposed steep tariffs on imports from countries including Canada, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case that will decide the fate of the tariffs on Nov. 5.
The ad was commissioned by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who announced that the province would suspend advertising starting Oct. 27 “so we can resume trade talks.”
“I told Ford I didn’t want to move forward with the advertising,” Carney said on Nov. 1.
Mr. Carney said he apologized when the two attended a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president on October 29, and Mr. Trump said he had a “very good” conversation with Mr. Carney at the dinner.
What did you see in the ad?
The 60-second ad summarizes President Reagan’s remarks in a lengthy radio address on April 25, 1987, days after he raised tariffs on some Japanese imports in response to Japan’s violation of the semiconductor trade agreement. At that meeting, President Reagan made it clear that he did not support tariffs.
“When someone says, ‘Let’s put tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing of protecting American products and American jobs. And sometimes it works, but only for a short period of time,” President Reagan said in the ad.
The White House objected, arguing that the ad omitted other parts of President Reagan’s speech. “As I have often said, our commitment to free trade is also our commitment to fair trade,” the former president said in his opening remarks.
Learn how President Reagan felt about tariffs here.
Contributed by Michael Collins and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY. Reuters
