Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said he will pause his province’s anti-tariff advertisement campaign in the US, after it prompted President Donald Trump to terminate trade talks.
Ford 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 is prepared to resume trade talks with the US “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 by Reagan 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.
