Inside the ad that ruptured delicate US-Canada trade negotiations

The head of Canada’s Ontario province, Premier Doug Ford, announced that he will pause his province’s anti-tariff advertising campaign in the United States after its negative reception from US President Donald Trump led to the termination of ongoing trade talks.

Ontario, which contributes about 40% of Canada’s GDP, is a key driver of the national economy. Ford — one of Canada’s most outspoken critics of US tariffs on Canadian goods — said he made the decision following a conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney on October 24. The TV ad, he said, will be paused starting next week “so that trade talks can resume.”

The advert, sponsored by the Ontario government, featured quotes from Ronald Reagan’s 1987 address on free trade, using the former US president’s line that tariffs “hurt every American.”

Trump ended trade talks after the Ronald Reagan Foundation — the organization tasked with preserving Reagan’s legacy — criticized the ad for using “selective” audio and video clips. The US president blasted the spot as “FAKE” and “egregious” in a Truth Social post.

What did the ad say?

The one-minute Canadian advert used excerpts from Reagan’s five-minute 1987 “Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.” Although it did not alter Reagan’s words, an article by the BBC did establish that it rearranged their order to emphasize anti-tariff sentiments.

The ad opens with Reagan saying, “When someone says, ‘let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while it works, but only for a short time.”

In the original speech, however, this line appears midway through, after Reagan had already discussed his belief in “prosperity and economic development that only free trade can bring” and the dangers of high tariffs worsening the Great Depression.

“Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer,” Reagan said. In the advert, this line follows immediately after the opening statement, though in the original address, the two sentences were separated by more than a minute.

The 1987 speech also included Reagan’s caution that “imposing such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take… over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”

He further warned, “High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars.”

The advert’s third line repeats this last quote verbatim, but again, in the original speech, these sections are separated by about a minute. Reagan had elaborated that “homegrown industries start relying on government protection… stop competing… and then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars.”

Icy economic tensions between North American neighbours

Canada remains the only G7 nation without a trade deal with the United States since Trump began imposing sweeping tariffs. Roughly 75% of Canadian exports go to the US, leaving the country economically vulnerable.

The US currently enforces a 35% levy on all Canadian goods — though many are exempt under an existing trade pact — along with a 50% tariff on metals and a 25% tariff on automobiles.

Ford said the ad was intended “to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build” and to highlight “the impact of tariffs.” He added, “We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels.”

Trump’s reaction, however, sparked a domestic debate in Canada over Ford’s combative trade stance versus Carney’s conciliatory diplomacy. While Carney has pursued personal outreach to the US president through meetings and texts, Ford has favoured confrontation — from pulling American liquor off Ontario shelves to threatening restrictions on energy exports.

Just last week, Ford told reporters he was “sick and tired of sitting and rolling over,” adding that Canada needed “to fight back.” His remarks followed an announcement by multinational carmaker Stellantis — whose brands include Jeep, Opel, Citroën, and Alfa Romeo — that it would shift some production from its Brampton, Ontario plant to the United States.

By Nazrin Sadigova