
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was terminating trade talks with Canada, effective immediately.
The president accused Canada of trying to interfere with an upcoming Supreme Court case on the legality of his “reciprocal” tariffs.
Trump’s announcement on Truth Social comes after the Canadian province of Ontario began running a television advertisement in the United States featuring a speech from former president Ronald Reagan.
The ad, which Ontario’s premier Doug Ford posted on Xbegins with Reagan saying, “When someone says, ‘let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs, and sometimes for a short while it works, but only for a short time.”
“But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer,” the former president continues in the ad.
“Then the worst happens, markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan says in the 1987 radio address delivered from Camp David, Maryland.
It concludes with him saying, “Throughout the world, there’s a growing realization that the weight of prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition. America’s jobs and growth are at stake.”
Ontario ran the ad during one of MLB’s American League Championship Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. Fox Sports, which broadcast the game, said more than 9 million people were watching.
Canada is one of the United States’ most important trading partners. In 2024, Canada was the third top source of imports for the US, with more than $410 billion worth of goods coming in from the northern nation.
Many American supply chains are also highly dependent on Canada, such as the auto industry, although the administration has been pushing the “big three” US automakers to do less cross-border manufacturing.
Trump’s termination of talks Thursday is not the first time the president has cut off trade negotiations with Canada. In June, Trump said he was “terminating ALL discussions on trade with Canada,” citing the treatment of American tech companies and dairy farmers.
Canada quickly retaliated, slapping a quota on steel products, over what finance minister François-Philippe Champagne called “unjust US tariffs.”
But days later, Canada announced it would rescind its digital services tax, which would have hit major US companies, to appease Trump.
Carney visited the White House in early October and relationships seemed to have been patched up. Speaking alongside the Canadian prime minister in the Oval Office, Trump spoke of the “mutual love” the US and Canada have for each other.
But Trump still hinted of possible conflict. “We want Canada to do great,” he said. “But you know, there’s a point at which we also want the same business.”
President Donald Trump said his administration will not deploy the federal government to San Francisco, despite recent calls for federal intervention.