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Donald Trump said he was adding an additional 10 per cent levy on Canadian exports to the US, escalating a fight with America’s northern neighbour that was sparked by a television advert quoting Ronald Reagan on tariffs.
Trump announced the tariff increase as he travelled to Malaysia on Air Force One on Saturday, in a move that will increase tensions with Mark Carney, the former central banker elected prime minister of Canada this year.
The US president on Thursday night abruptly cancelled trade talks with Canada because the province of Ontario had launched a US ad campaign citing former president Reagan’s criticism of tariffs.
But Trump went a step further after the advert was aired during Friday night’s World Series baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” he wrote.
On Saturday a spokesperson from Ontario Premier Doug Ford said: “the ads will air this weekend as planned, pause on Monday.”
Trump did not say when the additional tariffs would be imposed.
Before his statement, US tariffs on Canadian imports were set at 35 per cent, though there are widespread exemptions for products compliant with the USMCA trade deal Trump signed during his first term. US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, however, are set at a higher rate of 50 per cent, which has been a source of tension between the countries.
Carney flew to Washington this month to meet Trump in the White House in an effort to mend bilateral relations and rescue a C$1.3tn ($928bn) trading relationship. The meeting appeared to improve the mood between the countries.
Trump’s sudden move to impose higher duties on Canada comes ahead of a high-stakes visit by the US president to Asia, culminating in a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
Both Trump and Carney are expected to attend the Asean meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, though speaking to reporters on Friday night the US president said he had “no intention” of meeting with the Canadian prime minister.
“I don’t think there’s really much they can do. So I assume leave it the way it is. If you leave it the way it is, it’s very good for us,” Trump said.
The TV ad in question — part of a $75mn campaign by Ontario — cites Reagan, who was known for his free market and anti-protectionist positions — warning that tariffs can appear like the “patriotic thing” but “over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer”.
Trump claims that the ad was a “fake”, even though the voice was that of the late Republican president taken from a radio address in April 1987.
Trump also insisted that Reagan “loved” tariffs based on the fact that he imposed several levies, including on Japanese imports just before the radio address.
Professor Brian Rathbun, from Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said Reagan used tariffs as defensive, rather than offensive, tools.
“Reagan believed in reciprocity in tariffs as a way of inducing freer trade. But he thought broadly that protectionism made firms inefficient by reducing competitive pressures,” he said.
Trump claimed that “Reagan was a big supporter of tariffs when needed. We need tariffs for national security and they totally turned it around because they’re getting hurt by tariffs, and we’re gaining by tariffs.”
However, in a portion of the radio address that was not included in Ontario’s ad, Reagan had said he was using tariffs reluctantly.
“Imposing such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take,” Reagan said.
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