Spat between two countries after Ontario ran ad in US of Reagan saying ‘trade barriers hurt every American worker’
Spat between two countries after Ontario ran ad in US of Reagan saying ‘trade barriers hurt every American worker’
Marco Rubio confirmed on Friday that all trade negotiations with Canada had been suspended as Canadian authorities reposted on social media a five-minute excerpt of a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs that has appeared to spark Donald Trump’s ire.
The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, whose government ran the Reagan ad in US markets this week, posted on X that the two nations are “stronger together”, while Trump added his own string of social media posts trumpeting the supposed benefits of tariffs.
“Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together,” Ford wrote on X alongside the Reagan video. “God bless Canada and God bless the United States.”
The breakdown in relationships apparently stems from a one-minute television advertisement featuring Reagan’s radio address declaring that “trade barriers hurt every American worker”.
Trump responded on Truth Social without evidence that Canada had somehow run a “fraudulent” and “fake” advertisement, and announced that “all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated”.
Rubio, the secretary of state, on Friday told reporters that Ford had aired commercials in the US which “took President Reagan’s words out of context,” adding that the Reagan Foundation had criticized the effort, too.
