The premier of Canadian province Ontario says it will pull anti-tariff ads that led to US President Donald Trump halting trade talks between Canada and the United States.
Trump terminated the talks this week over the video, which showed Republican former US President Ronald Reagan saying tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
In a late-night social media post, Trump called the ad fraudulent.
"Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED," Trump said on his Truth Social network on Friday (AEDT).
"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 footage of Reagan is from a radio address he delivered in April 1987, and is available in full on the Reagan Library official YouTube channel.
"Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer," Reagan says during the address.
Later in the address, the former US president adds: "At first, when someone says 'let's impose tariffs on foreign imports', it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while, it works. But only for a short time."
The latest extraordinary twist in relations between the North American neighbours comes just over two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Trump in the White House to seek a relaxation of stiff US tariffs.
Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and cars earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind. The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminium sectors.
Carney said on Saturday (AEDT) that Canada was ready for further trade talks whenever the United States is ready
"My colleagues have been working with their American colleagues on detailed constructive negotiations, discussions on specific sectors," Carney said before departing Ottawa for his first official visit to Asia, where he aims to diversify trade ties away from the United States.
Carney did not directly mention Trump's about-face, but said bilateral talks had shown "progress ... and we stand ready to pick up on that progress and build on that progress when the Americans are ready".
Carney stressed that Canada has "to focus on what we can control, and realise what we cannot control."
"We cannot control the trade policy of the United States," he told reporters on the tarmac before boarding his flight to attend two regional summits in Asia.
"It's a situation where the United States has tariffs against every one of their trading partners," the prime minister added, stressing his desire to deepen trade relations with other nations.
Despite Carney's overture to revive US talks, Ontario premier Doug Ford said he ordered the ads to keep running during the weekend's baseball World Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers to reach a bigger US audience.
Ontario premier Doug Ford said the ads would be pulled after the weekend. Source: AAP / AP / Nathan Denette
Ford said earlier this week the ad from his province with anti-tariff messaging had caught Trump's attention. The ad showed Reagan, a Republican, criticising tariffs on foreign goods while saying they caused job losses and trade wars.
"I heard that the president heard our ad. I'm sure he wasn't too happy," Ford said on Tuesday.
The Ronald Reagan Foundation said on X that the government of the Canadian province of Ontario had used "selectively audio and video" from a radio address to the nation in April 1987.
It said the ad "misrepresents" what the Republican former actor had said in his address, adding it was "reviewing its legal options in this matter".
Trump said the ad was designed to "interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court", which is due to rule on his sweeping global tariffs.
The sudden decision to end trade talks will come as a blow to Carney, whom Trump described as a "world-class leader" when they met on 7 October, adding that the Canadian would be "very happy" with their discussion.
At the time, however, Trump offered no immediate concessions on tariffs.
Roughly 85 per cent of cross-border trade in both directions remains tariff-free as the United States and Canada continue to adhere to an existing North American trade deal called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
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