U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the immediate termination of all trade negotiations with Canada, accusing the Ontario government of producing a “fake” anti-tariff advertisement that misrepresented former President Ronald Reagan’s remarks on trade.
Posting on his Truth Social account on Thursday, Trump said the ad — aired on U.S. television — was designed to “interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” which is set to rule on his sweeping global tariff policy.
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump declared.
The Reagan Foundation later confirmed that the Ontario government had used “selective audio and video” from a 1987 Reagan speech, adding that the material “misrepresents” his original message and that legal action was being considered.
The abrupt move marks a sharp reversal in U.S.-Canada relations, just two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump at the White House seeking tariff relief. During that visit, Trump had described Carney as a “world-class leader.”
Carney, in a speech on Wednesday, had warned that the U.S.’s new trade posture had “fundamentally changed” and that Canada’s economic strategy “needs to change dramatically.”
Trump’s tariffs — particularly on steel, aluminum, and autos — have hit Canada’s manufacturing sector hard, leading to job losses and higher production costs.
Despite the suspension of trade talks, both nations remain bound by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which ensures that about 85 percent of bilateral trade continues to flow tariff-free.
Both leaders are expected to attend the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Malaysia and the APEC Forum in South Korea, where the fallout from the diplomatic rupture could take center stage.
