President Donald Trump said he is slapping an additional 10 percent tariff on Canada for not pulling down a “fraudulent” ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan fast enough.
The anti-tariff ad was funded by Ontario’s provincial government and quoted the conservative icon, who appeared to warn in the video that tariffs “hurt every American.”
Trump appeared to take great offense to the ad and announced Thursday he was suspending trade talks with Canada as a result.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that he would pull the ad to allow trade talks to resume following discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
However, Ford said the ad would continue running through the weekend, including during the first World Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which has irked the president.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump complained on Truth Social Saturday afternoon from Air Force One while en route to Malaysia.
“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” Trump said. “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”
It was not immediately clear when the hike would come into effect or whether it would apply to all Canadian goods.
Earlier this year, Trump raised the import tax on Canada to 35 percent.
The advert uses real but spliced moments from an April 1987 Reagan address about imposing tariffs on Japan to criticize U.S. tariffs.
The Reagan Presidential Foundation has also condemned the ad, calling it unauthorized and a misrepresentation of Reagan's views. The foundation indicated it is pursuing legal options over the use of the audio.
Ford said the campaign’s goal was to spark dialogue about the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses.
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels,” Ford said in a statement Friday. “Our 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.”
“I can play dirtier than they can,” Trump told reporters Friday.
Many Canadian products have already been hit with a 35 percent tariff, while steel and aluminum face rates of 50 percent.
Energy products have a lower rate of 10 percent.
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