President Trump said Friday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney apologized to him for an ad produced by the province of Ontario that spotlighted Ronald Reagan’s opposition to tariffs — after Trump broke off trade talks with Canada in protest of the commercial.
“He was very nice. He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial. You know, it was the exact opposite, Ronald Reagan loved tariffs,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the weekend.
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Asked if he would resume trade negotiations with Carney, Trump said, “No, but I have a very good relationship. I like him a lot.”
Trump and Carney dined together Wednesday in South Korea alongside other national leaders gathered for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference — after the president broke off talks last Thursday.
The ad that outraged Trump was produced by Ontario’s Conservative-led government and not by Carney’s Liberal administration.
It aired a clip of Reagan saying in a 1987 radio address: “When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting Americans products and jobs. And sometimes for a short time it works, but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars, then the worst happens, markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs,” the 40th president continued.
“The way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition.”
Trump has used tariffs to induce other countries to lower their own levies on American products and over the summer brokered compromises with most countries to avert his threatened high “reciprocal” tariffs — though he retained a 10% baseline that was roughly triple the prior level and many major exporters face significantly higher rates.
Canada is a member of the USMCA trade deal brokered by Trump during his first term, which means that most of its products are shielded from higher duties, including Trump’s 25% rate on foreign-made cars.
The president can attempt to force a renegotiation of USMCA as early as July 2026, according to the terms of that deal.
Trump has imposed a 35% tariff on non-USMCA compliant goods from Canada over Ottawa allegedly doing too little to stop fentanyl smuggling. He said Saturday he planned to tack on an additional 10% duty over the ad.
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