US President Donald Trump has said he is increasing tariffs on goods imported from Canada after the province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan.
In a post on social media on Saturday, Trump called the advert a “fraud” and lashed out at Canadian officials for not removing it 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.
After Trump on Thursday withdrew from trade talks with Canada, the Ontario premier said he would take down the advert.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Friday that he would pause his province’s anti-tariff advertisement campaign in the US, telling reporters that he made the decision after discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney “so that trade talks can resume”.
He also said it would still run over the weekend, including during games for the World Series, which features the Toronto Blue Jays against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Canada is the only G7 country that has not reached a deal with the US since Trump began seeking to charge steep tariffs on goods from major trading partners.
The US has already 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, including a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.
In his post, sent while he was traveling to Asia, Trump seemed to say he was adding 10 percentage points to those taxes.
Three-quarters of Canadian exports are sold to the US, and Ontario is home to the bulk of Canada’s automobile manufacturing.
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 that focused on foreign trade.
The Ronald Reagan Foundation, which is charged with preserving the former president’s legacy, had criticised the advert for using “selective” audio and video and said it misrepresented Reagan’s address. It also said the Ontario government had not sought permission to use it.
In his post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said that the advert should have been pulled down earlier.
“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” he wrote, while flying to Malaysia.
Ford had previously pledged to run the Reagan advert in every Republican-led district in the US.
Both Trump and Carney will be attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia, but Trump told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One that he does not have any “intention” of meeting with his Canadian counterpart during the trip.
In his post, Trump also accused Canada of attempting to manipulate an upcoming US Supreme Court case which could end his entire tariff regime.
The case, to be heard by the highest US court next month, will determine whether the tariffs are constitutional.
On Thursday, Trump posted that the advert was designed to “interfere” with “THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE EVER”.
Responding to the Trump’s rate hike on Saturday, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce said it hoped “this threat of escalation can be resolved through diplomatic channels and further negotiation”.
“Tariffs at any level remain a tax on America first, then North American competitiveness as a whole,” the organisation’s CEO, Candace Laing, said in a statement to the BBC.
The Reagan ad is not the only way that Ontario – home of the Toronto Blue Jays – is using the World Series as a platform to criticise Trump’s tariffs.
In a video posted on Friday, Ford and California Governor Gavin Newsom jokingly made bets about which team would win the series.
Both men repeatedly joked about tariffs in the video, with Ford pledging to send Newsom a can of maple syrup if the LA Dodgers win.
“The tariff might cost me a few extra bucks at the border these days, but it’ll be worth it,” he wrote.
In response, Newsom asked Ford to resume allowing American-produced alcohol to be sold in province liquor stores, and pledged to send him “California’s championship-worthy wine” if the Blue Jays triumph.
They ended their exchange both declaring: “Here’s to a great World Series, and a tariff-free friendship between Ontario and California.”
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
