Trump to increase tariffs on Canada by 10 percent over Reagan ad
The announcement on Saturday came two days after Trump terminated all trade talks with Canada over what he called a “fake” campaign run by the Canadian province of Ontario.
“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.”
The Canadian government did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement of additional tariffs on Saturday.
It was not clear what goods would be affected by Trump’s newly announced tariffs. The majority of Canadian exports to the US are exempt from tariffs because of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was signed during Trump’s first term.
In August, the Trump administration imposed a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods not covered by the USMCA. But Canada’s economy has suffered from Trump’s sector tariffs of 50 percent imposed this year on steel and aluminium from all countries.
Al Jazeera reviewed the text of the original speech and found that it contained all the statements used in the Ontario commercial. However, they appeared to be in a different order.
Ford, the Ontario premier, said on Friday that he was pausing the campaign after consulting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses. We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels,” Ford wrote on X.
“I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games.”
Carney said on Friday that Canada stood ready to resume trade talks with the US.
Trump and Carney will both be at the Association of Southeast-Asian Nations summit in Malaysia, but the US president told reporters on Air Force One that he has no plans to meet with the Canadian leader.