Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has issued an apology to Donald Trump following the broadcast of a controversial TV advertisement that leveraged statements made by former US President Ronald Reagan against tariffs.

The advertisement, which aired in the United States, provoked a strong reaction from Trump, leading him to impose increased tariffs on Canada and suspend ongoing trade discussions between the two nations. Notably, Canada remains the only G7 nation without a finalized trade agreement with the US amidst these tariff disputes.

Aired during the highly watched World Series, the ad featured a voiceover of Reagan, the Republican leader who served as US President from 1981 to 1989, warning that tariffs could trigger trade wars and lead to economic problems.

Created by the Ontario government to hit back at trade tariffs, it uses comments Reagan had made in a 1987 radio address about tariffs imposed on Japan , apparently edited out of sequence. Mr Trump called it ‘misleading’, posting on his Truth Social network: ‘Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.’

Carney, former Bank of England governor, apparently sanctioned the commercial which had been commissioned by anti-tariff campaigner, Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford has heavily criticized the Trump administration, claiming its tariffs are hurting Ontario’s carmakers and steel industry. The ad was pulled following Mr Trump’s reaction.

Mr Carney confirmed today that he did ‘apologize to the president’ although he tempered his apology with a claim that he had told Doug Ford he did ‘not want to go forward with the ad’.

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, he said he had apologized privately to Mr Trump at a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president last Wednesday. ‘I did apologize to the president,’ Mr Carney admitted.

On Friday, Mr Trump said he had accepted Mr Carney’s apology but would not be restarting trade talks, commenting:

‘I like him [Carney] a lot but what they did was wrong. He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial.’

Meanwhile Ford boasted that the ad campaign was ‘very effective’ because it had upset Trump.

‘You know why President Trump is so upset right now? Because it was effective. It was working, it woke up the whole country,’ said Ford.