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By Gabe Whisnant
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford is boasting about an anti-tariff advertisement that he says prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to cancel trade talks with Canada.
Ford told reporters Monday the ad — which featured a clip of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan denouncing protectionism — had more than “a billion impressions around the world” and sparked a debate in the United States about tariffs.
Calling it “the best ad I ever ran,” the populist Conservative premier said the campaign accomplished its goal of drawing attention to Trump’s trade policies.
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The ad angered Trump, who responded by threatening to raise tariffs on Canadian imports by another 10%.
“You know why President Trump is so upset right now? It was because it was effective,” Ford said.
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Why It Matters
Canada is the U.S.'s second-largest trading partner after Mexico. More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion U.S.) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
But Trump triggered a trade war with Canada, which he accused of benefiting from an imbalanced and unfair trading relationship, a characterization Ottawa rejects. Both sides have since exchanged tariffs and other measures, targeting steel and aluminum, lumber, autos, and more, but were in negotiations on a range of trade-related issues.
What To Know
Earlier Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country stood ready to restart trade talks with the United States after Trump said he would not meet with him for a long time amid the latest spat between the two neighbors.
Carney, speaking in Malaysia, said the U.S. and Canada "made considerable progress" in the talks until Ontario's ad campaign.
"From the perspective of the federal government, which I'm responsible, we stand ready to pick up on those discussions when the United States wishes to pick up on those discussions," Carney said.
Ford and Carney are from opposing political parties.
Ford said Friday that he would pull the ad campaign on Monday, a two-day delay that frustrated Trump, who called it "very late".
"That's dirty pool and you can't do that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Japan on Monday, referring to what he says was a false representation of Reagan's views on tariffs.
Ford said the campaign, which included television spots set to air during the first two World Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, was intended to spark discussion about the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses.
He said the decision to suspend the ads, made in consultation with Carney, would allow trade talks with the White House to resume.
What People Are Saying
Ford told CNN's Jake Tapper, in part, on Monday: "I have a job to protect the largest economy in Canada. The engine of Canada. 16.5 million people. And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm protecting the steel jobs, the auto jobs, the life science jobs, the manufacturing jobs. That's my duty as the premier of Ontario."
Trump was asked if he planned to meet with Carney at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) in South Korea this week: "I don't want to meet with him. "No, I'm not going to be meeting with them for a while. No, I'm very happy with the deal we have right now with Canada. We're going to let it ride."
At the press conference in Malaysia, Carney was asked if Ford's running of the Reagan ad had upset him because of its impact on the progress of the U.S. trade talks: "In any complicated, high-stakes negotiation, you can get unexpected twists and turns. And you have to keep your cool during those situations. It doesn't pay to be upset. Emotions don't carry you very far. And we had made progress to repeat, and we stand by the progress that had been made."
What Happens Next
Fractious talks on a deal to resolve the many issues were making slow progress before Trump pulled the plug over the Reagan ad, another blow to businesses and consumers on both sides that rely on cross-border trade.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Updates: 10/27/25, 4:06 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Updates: 10/27/25, 6:27 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
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