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An advertisement released in the United States by Canada\u2019s biggest province featuring former US President Ronald Reagan has set off new tensions between Washington and Ottawa, which already had icy relations over President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff policy.<\/p>\n
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday night, Trump claimed that the advertisement \u2013 which shows Reagan, a fellow Republican, speaking negatively about tariffs as an economic policy \u2013 was \u201cfake\u201d. He cited comments by the Ronald Reagan Foundation that described the clip of the former president used in the commercial as doctored, even though the comments in the ad are consistent with the theme of Reagan\u2019s remarks and his criticism of tariffs.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Trump also said the advertisement was aimed at influencing US courts.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who spearheaded the advertisements, said on Friday that he would pause the campaign so that trade talks between the US and Canada could move forward.<\/p>\n \u201cOur intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses,\u201d Ford said. \u201cWe\u2019ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels.\u201d<\/p>\n Why did the advertisement create tensions between the US and Canada? Here\u2019s what we know:<\/p>\n On October 14, Ford said his province would spend 75 million Canadian dollars (US$54m) to run anti-tariff advertisements on mainstream channels in the US.<\/p>\n Ford has been a critic of Trump\u2019s tariff policy, and Ontario, known for its steel industry, has been severely hit by the US levies. Ontario is home to more than a third of Canada\u2019s population and the country\u2019s biggest city, Toronto.<\/p>\n On October 16, Ford posted the ad on his X account and said Canada will \u201cnever stop making the case against American tariffs\u201d.<\/p>\n The minute-long advert features remarks by Reagan from a national address in April 1987 about free and fair trade. In that speech, Reagan spoke of tariffs he had recently imposed on Japan, at the time a major economic rival, before arguing that such duties were at best a short-term fix.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone says, \u2018Let\u2019s impose tariffs on foreign imports,\u2019 it looks like they\u2019re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while, it works, but only for a short time,\u201d Reagan is heard saying in the ad. His remarks play over visuals like the New York Stock Exchange, farm fields and cranes featuring US and Canadian flags.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer,\u201d Reagan says.<\/p>\n \u201cHigh tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. \u2026 Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s official: Ontario\u2019s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.\u00a0<\/p>\n Using every tool we have, we\u2019ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.<\/p>\n Watch our new ad. pic.twitter.com\/SgIVC1cqMJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n According to Canadian media reports, Ford calls himself a fan of Reagan, and his office said the anti-tariff ad will appear on US platforms like Bloomberg and Fox News by the end of October. His office added that the advertisement seeks to target Republican voters in the US who will understand the impact of tariffs when they hear the former president\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n In a post on the social media platform X late on Thursday, however, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, which advances Reagan\u2019s legacy and principles, said the advert by Ontario was edited.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,\u201d the institute said in the post, which included a link to Reagan\u2019s original address.<\/p>\n The institute did not explain how exactly the speech was misrepresented but added that it was reviewing legal options to deal with the matter.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera reviewed the text of the original speech as it appears on the website of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum<\/a>. It includes all the statements Reagan is heard saying in his radio address.<\/p>\n But the comments in the advertisement don\u2019t appear in the same sequence as Reagan\u2019s speech. Instead, Ford\u2019s team appears to have patched together different sections of Reagan\u2019s speech to make their argument stronger and make it flow better.<\/p>\n For instance, in the advertisement, Reagan is heard saying about tariffs: \u201cAnd sometimes, for a short while, it works, but only for a short time. Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n In the actual address, Reagan made the comment about trade barriers hurting Americans in the long run in the introductory part of his speech. He talked about how tariffs help only for a \u201cshort time\u201d much later in the speech. The comment about retaliatory steps taken by other countries comes in a different segment of the speech.<\/p>\n And the sentence about markets shrinking and millions losing their jobs comes in yet another part of the address.<\/p>\n Although Reagan\u2019s original comments appear to have been spliced together by the Ontario premier\u2019s team, the advertisement appears sincere to the thrust of Reagan\u2019s message \u2013 that tariffs, if wielded as an economic weapon, must be used only sparingly and for a short time, or they can hurt Americans.<\/p>\n Some Canadian officials have taken to social media to defend the advertisement\u2019s message.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ontario ad does not misrepresent President Reagan\u2019s anti-tariff radio address in any respect whatsoever. It is a direct replay of his radio address, formatted for a one minute ad,\u201d Jason Kenney, a former Conservative cabinet minister for the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said in a social media post.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know perfectly well that the Ontario ad captures precisely President Reagan\u2019s opposition to tariffs, and support for free trade,\u201d he added, taking aim at the Reagan Foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it is obvious that the Foundation now has gormless leadership which is easily intimidated by a call from the White House, yet another sign of the hugely corrosive influence of Trump on the American conservative movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to President Reagan’s unedited remarks here: <\/a> pic.twitter.com\/iqmjSuypp0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute (@RonaldReagan) October 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Trump said the advertisement is Canada\u2019s way of trying \u201cto interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court, and other courts\u201d.<\/p>\n After entering office in January, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from many countries around the world, saying he sought to punish countries with whom the US runs trade deficits, raise US government revenues and rebuild US manufacturing.<\/p>\n His administration initially imposed a 25 percent tariff on most Canadian goods, exempting only products covered by a free trade agreement that exists between Canada, the US and Mexico from Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n Then in August, Trump raised the tariffs on Canada to 35 percent, alleging that Ottawa was not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US. The Canadian government in July, however<\/a>, pointed out that \u201cthe volumes of fentanyl moving from Canada into the US are negligible.\u201d The government noted that according to data from US Customs and Border Patrol, since 2022, \u201cabout one tenth of one percent of fentanyl seizures are attributed to the Northern US Border or crossing into the US from Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides tariffs, the US president has also repeatedly threatened to annex Canada. In February, he said if Canada became the 51st US state, it would help Canadians. \u201cThe people would pay much less tax than they\u2019re paying right now. They\u2019d have perfect military protection,\u201d he told reporters in Washington, DC, while signing a memorandum on tariffs.<\/p>\n Negotiations between Canada and the US to secure a trade deal had been going on for months. The Ontario advertisement also comes at a time when the US Supreme Court is poised to decide on the legality of Trump\u2019s global tariffs regime in November. An appellate court had earlier declared them illegal. If the top court finds that Trump does not have the power to implement such tariffs, then the US government might have to refund companies who have been paying the customs duties since they came into effect.<\/p>\n Besides Canada, Chinese officials have also shared<\/a> Reagan\u2019s 1987 tariffs speech on social media after Trump announced the penalties on several countries in April.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Friday while boarding a flight to Asia, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada remains ready to resume trade talks with the US.<\/p>\n But, Carney added, the decision to impose tariffs is ultimately up to the US government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize that that policy has fundamentally changed from the 1980s,\u201d Carney said. \u201cWe have to focus on what we can control and realise what we can\u2019t control.\u201d<\/p>\n Ford initially stood behind the ad, saying that the US and Canada are allies and that \u201cReagan knew that both are stronger together\u201d. Later in the day, he said he would pause the campaign after speaking with Carney.<\/p>\n Ian Lesser, a distinguished fellow and head of the German Marshall Fund\u2019s Brussels office, said Trump\u2019s reaction to the advertisement is likely as much about his highly personalised approach to international policy as it is about trade policy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US-Canada relationship is enormously important to both sides in economic, security and people-to-people terms. The current friction and highly negative atmosphere is unprecedented for a relationship of such structural importance,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is partly about policy differences on trade and regulatory matters, but it is increasingly about a strident style and its effect on Canadian public opinion,\u201d he said, adding that public opinion in Canada has turned very negative towards the US and Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cThis creates an environment in which the discourse between Washington and Ottawa is also very much about domestic politics, especially on the Canadian side.\u201d<\/p>\n Moreover, this is not the first time trade talks between Canada and the US have stalled.<\/p>\n On June 27, after Canada announced it was going to impose its Digital Services Tax (DST) on US firms, Trump called the Canadian tax a \u201cdirect and blatant attack\u201d and wrote on his Truth Social platform: \u201cBased on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Digital Services Tax Act came into effect in June 2024, and under it, Canada could charge a tax of 3 percent on the digital services revenue a firm makes from Canadian users above 20 million Canadian dollars (US$14.6m) in a calendar year.<\/p>\n Just two days after Trump\u2019s announcement, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement that Ottawa would rescind the DST on US companies to support trade negotiations with Washington.<\/p>\n Canada is among the top US trading partners, and more than 77 percent of Canada\u2019s exports go to the US. According to<\/a> the Office of the US Trade Representative, US goods and services trade with Canada totalled US$909.1bn in 2024.<\/p>\n But US tariffs have particularly affected Canada\u2019s steel and aluminium sector.<\/p>\n \u201cIn areas where we compete, we have to come to an agreement that works,\u201d Carney told journalists after a meeting with Trump at the White House this month, as he sought to achieve a trade deal and reduce tariffs on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n Any such agreement now looks distant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
What was the advertisement aired by Ontario?<\/h2>\n
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Is the advertisement fake?<\/h2>\n
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Why has Trump ended trade talks over the ad?<\/h2>\n
What does this mean for future US-Canada trade?<\/h2>\n