Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said he will pause his province's anti-tariff advertisement campaign in the US, after it prompted President Donald Trump to terminate trade talks.
Ford - one of Canada's most vocal critics of US levies on Canadian goods - said he made the decision after speaking to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, adding that the TV spot will be paused on Monday so that trade talks can resume.
It will still run over the weekend on US networks, he said, including during the Major League Baseball World Series games.
Carney told reporters earlier on Friday that Canada was prepared to resume trade talks with the US when the Americans are ready.
Trump criticised the advert late on Thursday night in a Truth Social post, calling it FAKE and egregious. He said trade talks were HEREBY TERMINATED.
The advert, which was sponsored by the Ontario government, quotes former US President Ronald Reagan, a Republican and icon of US conservatism, saying tariffs hurt every American.
The video takes excerpts from a 1987 national radio address that focused on foreign trade.
Trump's termination of trade talks came after the Ronald Reagan Foundation, which is charged with preserving Reagan's legacy, released a statement saying the advert had used selective audio and video of the former president's remarks.
It accused the advert of misrepresenting Reagan's address, and said the Ontario government had not sought permission to use it.
On Friday, Ford said the intention of the advert was to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs.
We've achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels, he said.
Trump's reaction to the advert has ignited debate in Canada over whether Ford's combative approach to US trade talks was the right one, or whether the country would be better served by striking a friendlier chord with its neighbour and closest trade ally.
Canada is still the only G7 country that has not reached a trade deal with the US since Trump began introducing sweeping tariffs. The US has imposed a 35% levy on all Canadian goods - though most are exempt under an existing free trade agreement. It has also slapped sector-specific levies on Canadian goods, including a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.
Those sector tariffs have especially hurt Ontario, where the bulk of Canada's automobile manufacturing industry is based. Carney has attempted for months to negotiate a deal that would ease the tariffs. Three-quarters of Canadian exports are sold to the US, making its economy particularly vulnerable.
Ford has taken a more defiant stance. He pulled US liquor off Ontario shelves and briefly threatened withholding energy exports. The next day, he launched the advertisement campaign that eventually drew the ire of the US president.
Trump's abrupt termination of trade talks is unsurprising to many Canadians, who have observed a pattern of behavior in the US leader. The White House has signaled frustration with what it called Canada's longstanding, unfair trade barriers. The next steps for trade discussions remain uncertain, with both Ford and Carney needing to navigate a complex bilateral relationship.
