Trump Escalates Trade Tensions with Canada Over Reagan Ad, Imposes Additional 10% Tariff

Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA

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Image Source: Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

President Donald Trump intensified his trade dispute with Canada on Saturday, announcing a 10 percent tariff increase on Canadian goods after denouncing a provincial television ad that featured edited audio of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.

The ad, paid for by Ontario’s government, used genuine excerpts from Reagan’s 1987 address arranged in a different order to highlight the economic risks of tariffs. Trump accused the commercial of being “fraudulent” and claimed it was intended to sway the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming hearings on his trade policies. In response, he halted months of trade negotiations with Canada earlier this week.

“The sole purpose of this fraud was Canada’s hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will come to their rescue on tariffs,” Trump said in a social media post, declaring the new tariff hike.

Relations between the two close allies have deteriorated sharply since Trump’s election, with both nations engaged in repeated disputes over steel, aluminum, autos, and softwood lumber. The new tariffs come at a time when Canadian goods such as aluminum and steel already face levies of up to 50 percent, while auto parts are taxed at 25 percent.

Ontario officials defended the ad as an accurate reflection of Reagan’s long-held opposition to tariffs, but removed it from broadcast following Trump’s backlash. The commercial aired during World Series games featuring the Toronto Blue Jays, drawing wide public attention.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is traveling to Malaysia for the ASEAN Summit, has avoided direct criticism but reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “constructive discussions” once the U.S. resumes talks.

Trump announced the tariff hike while en route to Asia, signaling that the trade confrontation with Canada is far from over. The latest escalation adds further strain to cross-border economic relations, which underpin one of the world’s largest trading partnerships.