President Trump Announces Tariffs on Canada

October 28th, 2025
James Savin

The Canadian Province of Ontario ran an ad featuring a clip from a speech in which former US President Ronald Reagan spoke against the use of tariffs. The White House, interpreting this as an insult, retaliated by stopping ongoing trade negotiations and announcing a 10% tariff against the nation.

On Tuesday, October 14, the government of Ontario announced a $75 million ad campaign. The one-minute ad—which aired on October 20, during the Major League Baseball playoffs—featured a voiceover of President Ronald Reagan speaking over footage of American life and workers. The ad has also run on American news channels such as Fox News, Fox Sports, NBC, CBS, CNBC, ESPN and ABC.

“Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens—markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan says.

The United States already has extremely high tariffs on Canadian goods. There is currently a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods—though most are exempted under a prior agreement—and additional sector-specific levies, including 50% on metals and 25% on cars. The tariffs represent a significant break between President Trump’s trade policies and previous administrations.

On October 21, Canadian Prime Minister Carney told the press that a deal with the US was “possible” ahead of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) summit this coming week. Still, he emphasized that negotiations were fraught.

Later that day, Trump mentioned he had seen the Reagan ad, saying, “I even see foreign countries now that we're doing very well with, taking ads: 'Don't go with tariffs!' I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I were Canada, I'd take that same ad also.”

That night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute tweeted, “The ad misrepresents the presidential radio address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks.” The statement went on to say that the foundation was reviewing its legal options, and encouraged people to watch the full address on their YouTube channel, which they linked.

At 10:39 pm, Trump posted about the matter on TruthSocial. The post read, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.”

The next day, it aired during the first game of the World Series. Trump was irate, telling reporters at the White House, “Well, that's dirty play — but I can play dirtier than they can, you know.”

House Democrats rushed to defend the ad, posting to Twitter, “This is the ad that drove Trump to cancel all trade talks with Canada. Unlike Trump’s AI slop, this is real and uses Reagan’s own words on tariffs.”

Canadian Prime Minister Carney confirmed today that he had not spoken to Trump since the President announced the termination of trade negotiations with Canada. Carney also declined to criticize Ontario’s ad, telling reporters, “Others will have opinions and … [I] welcome free advice. Unsolicited advice is entirely appropriate; every Canadian is a stakeholder in these negotiations.”

Ontario’s leader, Doug Ford, announced that he would pull the ad for negotiations to continue between the two nations. He added, however, that the ad would still play during the World Series. Ford said in a statement, “We’ve achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels,” Ford said in a statement.