Ontario Premier, Doug Ford says he will pause his province’s anti-tariff advertisement campaign in the US, after it prompted President Donald Trump to terminate trade talks.
Ford, one of Canada’s most vocal critics of US levies on Canadian goods said he made the decision after speaking to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, adding that the TV spot will be paused on Monday “so that trade talks can resume”.
It will still run over the weekend on US networks, he said, including during the Major League Baseball World Series games.
Carney told reporters earlier on Friday that Canada was prepared to resume trade talks with the US “when the Americans are ready”.
Trump criticised the advert late on Thursday night in a Truth Social post, calling it “FAKE” and “egregious”. He said trade talks were “HEREBY TERMINATED”.
The advert, which was sponsored by the Ontario government, quotes former US President, Ronald Reagan, a Republican and icon of US conservatism, saying tariffs “hurt every American”.
The video takes excerpts from a 1987 national radio address that focused on foreign trade.
Trump’s termination of trade talks came after the Ronald Reagan Foundation, which is charged with preserving Reagan’s legacy, released a statement saying the advert had used “selective” audio and video of the former president’s remarks.
It accused the advert of misrepresenting Reagan’s address, and said the Ontario government had not sought permission to use it.
On Friday, Ford said the intention of the advert was “to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build” and the impact of tariffs.
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels,” he said.
Trump’s reaction to the advert has ignited debate in Canada over whether Ford’s combative approach to US trade talks was the right one, or whether the country would be better served by striking a friendlier chord with its neighbour and closest trade ally.
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