President Donald Trump announced Thursday that trade discussions with Canada have been suspended following outrage over a Canadian political advertisement that featured a manipulated recording of late President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. The video, Trump said, was a “fraudulent” distortion of Reagan’s words.
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Earlier this year, Trump had imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles, leading to retaliatory measures from Ottawa. Despite that, both governments had continued working toward a deal addressing the metals sectors — until the controversy over the advertisement brought talks to an abrupt end.
The ad, released by Ontario’s provincial government more than a week ago, was designed to criticize protectionist trade policies. It featured Reagan’s voice saying tariffs trigger “trade wars and economic disaster.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford later confirmed that the clip had drawn Trump’s attention. “I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said Tuesday.
The advertisement used segments from Reagan’s 1987 Presidential Radio Address, editing and rearranging several sentences to create a message opposing tariffs. “When someone says, Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs,” Reagan says in the clip. “And sometimes for a short while it works — but only for a short time.”
He continues in the same recording, warning that “over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer,” and that trade wars make “markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.”
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation quickly objected to the ad, calling it a distortion of Reagan’s message. “The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address [by Reagan in 1987], and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,” the foundation said in a statement, adding that it was exploring legal options.
According to the foundation, the video spliced together five complete sentences from the five-minute address but presented them out of context. Reagan’s speech, they noted, was actually meant to defend temporary tariffs his administration had placed on Japanese imports, calling them an unfortunate but necessary exception to his broader support for free trade.
While the Canadian federal government did not issue an immediate response, the controversy quickly escalated into a diplomatic headache.
Trump, a staunch defender of his tariff policy, has described tariffs as “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” and has repeatedly used them as leverage in global trade negotiations.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed reporters Thursday, saying that Canada “will not allow unfair U.S. access” to its domestic markets if negotiations on various trade agreements falter.
The timing of the dispute is particularly sensitive. The United States, Canada, and Mexico are scheduled to review their 2020 continental free trade pact next year — a process that could be overshadowed by the latest breakdown in trust between Washington and Ottawa.
{Matzav.com}
