By Auzinea Bacon
President Donald Trump said Saturday he is increasing the tariff on Canada by 10% over current levels, further escalating trade tensions over what he called a “fake” ad that featured parts of an anti-tariff speech by former President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding, “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.”
The president’s post came after he said Thursday he was terminating trade talks with Canada, threatening once again to upend the crucial economic relationship between the United States and its second-biggest trading partner. The new tariff is Trump’s latest salvo in his global trade agenda after he imposed a levy of 100% “over and above” any tariffs on China in retaliation for new export controls Beijing imposed on rare-earth minerals earlier this month.
Trump posted about the tariff while aboard Air Force One as he heads to Asia for a five-day trip beginning in Malaysia, where he will meet with Southeast Asian leaders. He is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of his trip in South Korea.
The Canadian ad, purchased by the government of Ontario and broadcast on major US television networks, featured clips from a speech in which Reagan railed against tariffs. The ad quoted Reagan, who said tariffs hurt “every American worker and consumer” and were “triggering fierce trade wars.”
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute said the ad misrepresented the former president’s words.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and that the US ad campaign would pause on Monday “so that trade talks can resume.”
But the ad would continue to run over the weekend during the World Series, which is between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s only Major League Baseball team.
“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,” Trump said Saturday.
CNN has reached out to the offices of Carney and Ford for comment.
“Tariffs at any level remain a tax on America first, then North American competitiveness as a whole. We hope this threat of escalation can be resolved through diplomatic channels and further negotiation. CUSMA means a North America where businesses do better. A successful free trade zone is fundamental for both our economies,” Candace Laing, the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told CNN in an email.
Canada has long been one of America’s top trading partners, behind China and Mexico, making trade tensions a heated topic. Last year, the United States imported $411.9 billion worth of goods from Canada.
Trump’s steep sectoral tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum, lumber and energy — some of the country’s key exports to the United States — have hit Canada especially hard. Canada’s unemployment rate is now at its highest point in nine years.
It’s also hurting the US economy because of Canadian boycotts. According to data from Statistics Canada, Canadian travel to the US by land is down 31% this year through the end of September. Exports of American spirits to Canada plunged by 85% in the second quarter, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
But goods that are compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump negotiated in his first term, have largely been able to enter the US duty-free. Trump’s repeated tariff threats have many expecting major changes to the USMCA when it is reviewed next year.
CNN’s David Goldman, Jessie Yeung and Matt Egan contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional content.
