Washington: President Donald Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing US tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called “egregious behaviour” aimed at influencing US court decisions.
The post on Trump’s social media site came on Thursday night after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that have already been building between the two neighbouring countries for months.
Trump posted, “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 USD 75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
“TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMY OF THE USA. Based on their egregious behaviour, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.” Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening.
Trump, a Republican, was still at it on Friday morning, furiously posting on his social media site that “CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!!” on the tariff ad.
“THE UNITED STATES IS WEALTHY, POWERFUL, AND NATIONALLY SECURE AGAIN, ALL BECAUSE OF TARIFFS!” he wrote in a separate post on his Truth Social account.
“THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE EVER IS IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”
Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.”
The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.
As for the Supreme Court, Trump is referring to a case scheduled for early November in which the justices will consider the legality of his sweeping tariffs.agencies