President Donald Trump will increase tariffs on Canada by 10 percent, he announced Saturday in a post on Truth Social, as the fallout continues over a C$75 million Ontario ad campaign using quotes from former President Ronald Reagan to slam his tariffs.
Trump on Thursday halted trade negotiations with America’s northern neighbor in response to the ad, which he said misrepresented Reagan’s view on tariffs, a linchpin of Trump’s economic policy. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced plans to pull the ad at the end of the weekend, but the president on Saturday fumed that it had aired during Game 1 of the World Series.
“Ronald Reagan LOVED Tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy, but Canada said he didn’t!” Trump wrote Saturday. “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 has fixated on the Reagan-centered ad campaign in training his ire on Canada. But National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has maintained that it isn’t the only reason for the president’s sudden cold shoulder.
“The fact is that the negotiations with the Canadians have not been very collegial,” Hassett told Fox News on Friday. “They’ve not been going well. I think the president is very frustrated.”
Mark Carney, who has endeavored to establish a much warmer relationship with the White House than the one between Trump and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is seeking to calm tensions. Carney had encouraged the Ontario premier to pull the ad in an effort to restart trade talks, and signaled a willingness in remarks Friday to pick up where the two sides had left off.
Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign affairs ministry, did not immediately provide a comment.
