President Donald Trump announced that the United States has suspended all ongoing trade negotiations with Canada, citing what he described as a fraudulent television advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan speaking critically about tariffs.
“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Thursday.
“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote.
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump added.
Earlier that day, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute posted a statement online saying that a television commercial produced by the government of Ontario in Canada “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.”
The foundation further clarified that Ontario had not been granted authorization “to use and edit the remarks” of the former U.S. president.
It also confirmed that it was “reviewing legal options in this matter” and encouraged the public to view the original, unaltered recording of Reagan’s address.
Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford acknowledged earlier in the week that the ad — which showed Reagan condemning tariffs on imports and warning they could spark trade wars and job losses — had drawn Trump’s attention.
“I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday.
In a separate social media post, Ford shared the ad alongside the message: “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,” he said.
Trump’s decision to end the trade talks came shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated his government’s goal to expand exports beyond the U.S. market in response to the economic risks posed by new U.S. tariffs.
Carney also emphasized that Canada would resist granting the U.S. preferential market access if current negotiations failed to reach a fair outcome.
The two countries had been negotiating a potential agreement for several weeks following Trump’s earlier imposition of tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles — measures that prompted Canada to impose retaliatory duties.
Officials from the Canadian prime minister’s office have not yet issued a public statement in response to Trump’s announcement that all trade discussions have been terminated due to the disputed advertisement.
Currently, more than 75% of Canadian exports are directed to the United States, with an estimated 3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services exchanged between both nations each day.
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