Trump ends trade talks with Canada over anti-tariff TV advert as trade tensions rise yet again

US President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada after a television ad opposing US tariffs “misstated facts" in what he called “egregious behaviour” aimed at influencing US court decisions.

In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump wrote “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is fake, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.”

“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court and other courts,” he added.

“Tariffs are very important to the national security, and economy, of the USA. Based on their egregious behavious, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated."

The US president's statement came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US due to the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.

Why is the TV advert controversial?

Earlier this week, Trump said that he had seen the advertisement on television and stated that it demonstrated the impact of his tariffs. “I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I were Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said at the time.

On Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.”

It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.” The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.

Carney’s office did not immediately respond to the development, but the Canadian leader was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, with Trump set to do the same on Friday evening.

A back-and-forth in trade tensions

Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that have already been building between the two neighbouring countries for months.

Earlier this month, Carney met with Trump to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term but has since soured on.

More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US, and €2.3 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.

But Trump’s steep tariffs on many Canadian goods have especially hurt Canada’s car sector, much of which is based in Ontario. Last week, Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois

In a post of his own on X last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford uploaded a link to the ad with the message, “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the US has launched.”

He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”

Months back, in the heat of the trade tensions launched by Trump, Ford slapped an electricity surcharge on US states. In response, Trump then doubled steel and aluminium tariffs before tensions later eased.