Canadians pull Reagan anti-tariff ad after furious Trump scraps trade talks
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he spoke with PM Mark Carney and will pause the ad so negotiations can resume
A Canadian province said on Friday that it would pull an anti-tariff ad featuring former US president Ronald Reagan that prompted current leader Donald Trump to scrap trade talks.
Trump announced on social media on Thursday that he had “terminated” all negotiations with Canada over what he called a “fake” ad campaign by Ontario province that he said misrepresented fellow Republican Reagan.
Less than a day later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was suspending the ads after talking to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about the spiralling row with Washington.
“In speaking with Prime Minister Carney, Ontario will pause its US advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume,” Ford said in a social media post.
Ford added, however, that he had told his team to keep airing the ad during the first two games this weekend of baseball’s World Series – in which a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Canadian ad used quotes from a radio address on trade that Reagan delivered in 1987, in which he warned against ramifications that he said high tariffs on imports could have on the US economy.