Trump Announces Tariff Increase on Canada Over Reagan Ad Spat
Originally Posted on NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/world/canada/trump-tariffs-reagan-ad.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wk8.TSTZ.xSAIvxhg8oe-&smid=em-share
President Trump doubled down on Saturday in his feud with Canada over a television ad that used audio of former President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs, saying he would punish the country with an additional 10 percent tariff on its goods.
Mr. Trump had already suspended monthslong trade talks with Canada, the United States’ second-largest trading partner, on Thursday night because of the ad, which had been paid for by Ontario. Though the ad faithfully reproduced Mr. Reagan’s words, just in a different order, Mr. Trump has insisted it was “fraudulent” after the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said it had made “selective” use of the five-minute original address.
The latest twist in the Canada-United States saga comes as the two countries have been locked in intensive talks over lowering some U.S. tariffs on key Canadian goods. The countries’ relationship has drastically deteriorated since Mr. Trump’s election, as he has menaced the close U.S. ally with tariffs and spoken of making Canada the 51st state.
Canadians have reacted with anger and have rallied around the flag in a rare burst of patriotism, but the Canadian economy has been suffering the consequences of the dispute. Ontario, in particular, has much at stake in trade relations with the United States, and its premier on Friday posted the entire Reagan address online.
The audio used in the province’s ad was authentic, and minor edits to the original 1987 address did not alter the substance of Mr. Reagan’s remarks, which were highly critical of tariffs’ consequences. Following Mr. Trump’s outrage, though, the province pulled it from the airwaves, effective Monday.
Still, the commercial was shown during the first World Series game Friday evening, during which the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a home game. The ad also aired during the Saturday evening game between the two teams.
“The sole purpose of this FRAUD was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their ‘rescue’ on Tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post Saturday afternoon.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to begin hearing oral arguments early next month in a legal challenge to some of the president’s tariffs, including many of those he has placed on Canadian exports.
“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
He did not provide further details over how the new tariff hike would apply and on which goods exactly.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, avoided criticizing the American leader in his response. “Canada stands ready to build on the progress that we had been making in our negotiations and discussions with our American counterparts,” he told reporters.
He did, however, appear to take aim at Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario who commissioned the commercial, by noting that trade talks are the “sole responsibility of the government of Canada,”
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump announced the tariff increase as he was en route to Malaysia, the first stop on a tour of Asia, where governments are seeking to stabilize ties with the United States after months of tariff disputes. Mindful of how Mr. Trump’s diplomacy can shift overnight, many of those nations are trying to stay in his good graces.
The United States still has a relatively low average rate of tariffs on Canadian goods, because most of the levies are not applied to goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a free trade deal that Mr. Trump negotiated in his first term. But the Trump administration has applied other harsh tariffs on goods critical to the Canadian economy: autos, steel, aluminum and lumber.
Canadian steel and aluminum are subject to a 50 percent tariff (in line with the rest of the world), softwood lumber is subject to a 10 percent tariff on top of other preexisting levies, and some auto parts are subject to a 25 percent tariff.
Despite the focus on the Reagan ad, top White House economics adviser, Kevin Hassett, said on Friday, after the suspension of talks with Canada, that “the frustration has built up over time.”
“The Canadians have been very difficult to negotiate with,” he added in comments to the news media.
While Canada has rolled back most of its retaliatory measures against the United States as part of the ongoing talks, it did cap the number of Stellantis and General Motors vehicles made in the United States that can be imported into Canada tariff-free after both companies slashed jobs in Canada, dealing a major blow to the country’s important automotive industry.
“This is the latest in a series of unprovoked and unwarranted escalations in tariff policy with other sovereign nations,” said Flavio Volpe, the president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, a trade group. “Lost in the accountability loop here is the president’s threat is really to charge American taxpayers billions of dollars because of a benign World Series ad he doesn’t like,” he added.
Mr. Carney, who like Mr. Trump was traveling to Malaysia on Saturday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, has enjoyed a particularly cordial relationship with the American president. Mr. Carney was in Washington earlier this month as part of the trade talks between the two nations. Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for him.
Mr. Carney, before boarding his flight for Asia on Friday, avoided wading into the dispute over the ad, but said that Canada and the United States had been in “detailed, constructive” talks over tariffs on steel, aluminum and energy.
“We stand ready to pick up on those discussions when the Americans are ready,” he added, and repeated a line he uses often when U.S. talks hit a snag: “For months we have stressed the importance of distinguishing things we can control and things we can’t control. We can’t control the trade policy of the United States.”
Ana Swanson contributed reporting from Washington, and Ian Austen from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.