OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on Canadian products was not directly communicated to the Canadian Prime Minister in advance, a senior government official confirmed. The official stated that the Prime Minister did not receive a direct warning from President Trump, and they could not clarify whether advance notice was given through other channels.
The official also noted that the Prime Minister has not spoken to Trump since the trade negotiations between the two nations were halted.
Trump announced a 10 percent increase in tariffs on Canadian goods amid an escalating dispute over a Canadian advertisement that featured remarks from the late former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an anti-tariff message.
Two days prior, Trump had stated that he was terminating all trade talks with Canada due to what he called Canada’s “fake advertisement campaign.” As tensions flared, authorities in the province of Ontario had initially announced that the controversial ad—which protests Trump’s tariff policy—would not air the following week. However, it was permitted to be shown during the World Series last night, an action that reportedly infuriated President Trump.
The advertisement, funded by the Canadian province of Ontario, utilized quotes from a 1987 radio address by Reagan on trade. In the original address, Reagan warned against the potential adverse effects of high tariffs on foreign imports on the U.S. economy. The inclusion of Reagan’s specific warning—that high tariffs could provoke retaliation from foreign countries and trigger severe trade wars—is what reportedly angered Trump.
