TORONTO (AP) — The Premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, announced on Friday that he will withdraw an anti-tariff advertisement that led to U.S. President Donald Trump halting trade negotiations with Canada.
After discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford decided to suspend the ad campaign starting Monday to pave the way for the resumption of trade discussions.
President Trump had declared an end to “all trade negotiations” with Canada, citing displeasure over a television advertisement funded by Ontario. The ad, which featured quotes from former President Ronald Reagan, was critical of U.S. tariffs.
“We’ve accomplished our objective by capturing the attention of U.S. audiences, including those at the highest levels,” Ford stated.
He added that the campaign aimed to spark a dialogue about the type of economy Americans aspire to create and how tariffs affect workers and businesses.
Despite the suspension, Ford noted that the commercials would continue airing over the weekend, including during the initial World Series games featuring the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games,” he said.
Indeed, the ad aired Friday night during the seventh inning of Fox’s national broadcast of Game 1. The Blue Jays were leading 11-4.
On Thursday Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”
Trump doubled down on his criticism of the Ontario ads Friday and accused Canada of trying to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on his global tariff regime.
Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations has further inflamed trade tensions between the neighbors and longtime allies.
Carney said this week he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Canadian officials remain ready to continue talks to reduce tariffs in certain sectors, he said.
“We can’t control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize that that policy has fundamentally changed from the 1980s,” Carney said Friday morning before boarding a flight to Asia. “We have to focus on what we can control and realize what we can’t control.”
Carney is trying to secure a trade deal with Trump, but tariffs are taking a toll in the aluminum, steel, auto and lumber sectors.
Carney spoke to Ford Thursday night and again Friday.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said talks with Canada have not led to any constructive progress.
“Ontario’s taxpayer-funded ad campaign on American TV networks — that misleadingly edited President Reagan’s 1987 radio address about trade — is the latest example of how Canadian officials would rather play games than engage with the Administration,” Desai said in a statement.
“As President Trump made clear on Truth Social, further talks are a futile effort if Canada can’t be serious.”
The Ontario government has said it would pay about $75 million Canadian (US$54 million) for the ads to air across multiple American television stations using audio and video of Reagan speaking about tariffs in 1987.
Ford said earlier this week he had heard that Trump had seen the ad.
“I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said.
He said the aim is to “blast” the pro-trade message to Americans.
“It’s real, because it was coming from the best president the country’s ever seen, Ronald Reagan,” Ford said. “I feel the Reagan Republicans are going to be fighting with the MAGA group, and let’s hope, Reagan Republicans win.”
Ford is a populist conservative who doesn’t belong to the same party as Carney, a Liberal.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and British Columbia Premier David Eby backed Ford.
“It’s clear that these ads are working. If you throw a rock at a lake and you don’t hear a splash, you probably missed. So to my good friend Doug Ford, keep the ads on TV. They’re effective, and this country is behind you,” Kinew said.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said the ad has backfired “big time.”
Trump has been threatening Canada’s economy and sovereignty with tariffs, most offensively by claiming Canada could be “the 51st state.”
Jason Kenney, a former Conservative cabinet minister under ex-Prime Minister Stephen Harper, called Trump’s posts “just embarrassing.”
“The Ontario ad does not misrepresent President Reagan’s anti-tariff radio address in any respect whatsoever. It is a direct replay of his radio address, formatted for a one minute ad,” Kenney posted on social media.
Kenney also took aim at the Reagan Foundation, saying it “now has gormless leadership which is easily intimidated by a call from the White House, yet another sign of the hugely corrosive influence of Trump on the American conservative movement.”
