Trump Terminates Trade Talks with Canada Over Ad Criticizing U.S. Tariffs

President Donald Trump said he would immediately halt all trade negotiations with neighboring Canada in response to a Canadian advertisement opposing his signature tariff plan, which features the voice of former President Ronald Reagan.

The ad includes excerpts from a 1987 address in which Reagan defended free trade and criticized tariffs as outdated.

“Tariffs are very important to the national security and economy of the USA,” Trump said. “Based on their egregious behavior, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated.”

The ad includes excerpts from a 1987 address in which Reagan defended free trade and criticized tariffs as outdated.

The White House said Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet next Thursday in South Korea as the two leaders look to deescalate a simmering trade war between their countries.

Funded by the government of Ontario, the ad aims to sow doubt among Republican voters by invoking one of the party’s most iconic figures, Jenny McCall reported for Yahoo Finance.

Canada’s economy has been badly damaged by Trump’s tariffs, with about three-quarters of its exports going to the U.S. last year.

Ontario, home to roughly 16 million people, has been at the center of the trade dispute because it is the hub of Canada’s steel and automotive industries—two sectors hit hard by Trump’s tariffs on foreign producers. Canada remains the United States’ second-largest trading partner.