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 “when the Americans are ready”.
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.
On Friday, Ford said the intention of the advert was “to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build” and the impact of tariffs.
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels,” Ford said.
Earlier in the day, the Ontario premier shared the full 1987 radio address on free and fair trade by Reagan, saying that the former president knew Canada and the US “were stronger together”.
The US has imposed a 35% levy on all Canadian goods – though most are exempt under an existing free trade agreement. It has also slapped sector-specific levies on Canadian goods include a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.
Those sector-specific tariffs have especially hurt Ontario, where the bulk of Canada’s automanufacturing industry is based.
Since his election earlier this year, Prime Minister Carney has attempted to strike a deal that would ease the tariffs. Three-quarters of Canadian exports are sold to the US, making its economy particularly vulnerable.
