US President Donald Trump has announced a fresh tariff hike on Canadian imports after the province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff advert featuring the former US president. Ronald Reagan. The move threatens to derail fragile trade talks between Washington and Ottawa, just days after negotiations were suspended.
In a post on social media on Saturday, Trump described the advert as a “fraud” and accused Canadian officials of a “hostile act” for allowing it to air ahead of the World Series baseball championship.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump’s announcement came shortly after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would suspend his province’s anti-tariff campaign in the US following discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney “so that trade talks can resume.”
US–Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa remained committed to “constructive discussions” with American counterparts.
Canada is the only G7 nation yet to finalise a new trade deal with Washington since Trump began imposing steep levies on major trading partners. The US currently applies a 35% tariff on Canadian goods – though most are exempt under an existing free trade pact – along with sector-specific duties of 50% on metals and 25% on automobiles.
Trump’s latest post, sent while travelling to Asia, suggested he would add 10 percentage points to those existing levies. Three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US, and Ontario is home to much of the country’s automobile industry.
The contentious advert, sponsored by the Ontario government, used excerpts from a 1987 radio address in which Reagan warned that tariffs “hurt every American”. The Ronald Reagan Foundation criticised the campaign for “selective” use of the late president’s words and for failing to seek permission to use his image and audio.
Trump said the advert “should have been taken down immediately” but claimed it was allowed to air during the World Series “knowing that it was a fraud.”
Both Trump and Carney are attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia, though the US President told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had “no intention” of meeting his Canadian counterpart during the trip.
In his post, Trump also accused Canada of trying to influence an upcoming US Supreme Court case that could determine the legality of his tariff regime. The court is due to hear the case next month.