Trump says all trade talks with Canada are terminated

Item 1 of 2 Commercial trucks head towards the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Pacific Highway Port of Entry from south Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier

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WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement in which former President Ronald Reagan spoke negatively about tariffs.

“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week that the ad with anti-tariff messaging had caught Trump’s attention. The ad showed Reagan, a Republican, criticizing tariffs on foreign goods while saying they caused job losses and trade wars.

“I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday.

Trump has used tariffs as leverage on many countries around the world.

His trade war has increased U.S. tariffs to their highest levels since the 1930s and he has regularly threatened more duties, sparking concerns among businesses and economists.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Thursday that Canada will not allow unfair U.S. access to its markets if talks on various trade deals with Washington fail.

Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind. The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminum sectors.

Next year, the U.S., Canada and Mexico are due to review their 2020 continental free-trade agreement.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus

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Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.