Canadian PM apologizes to Trump for anti-tariff ad

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he apologized to US President Donald Trump for an anti-tariff advertisement that used a quote from Ronald Reagan, UNN reports with reference to the BBC.

Details

Last week, in response to the ad, Trump suspended trade talks with Canada and said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports.

"I apologized to the president," Carney told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea on Saturday.

The ad used a series of excerpts from a 1987 national radio address by former President Reagan, in which he argued that tariffs would harm America's economy.

"Such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer," Reagan said in his speech.

Carney said the ad, which was funded by the province of Ontario, "would not be something I would have done," and added that Trump was "offended" by it.

On Friday, Trump said Carney had apologized to him and added that they had a "very good" relationship. But, he said, "what he did was wrong."

Carney said that Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, who was responsible for the ad, showed him the clip beforehand, and the Prime Minister advised him not to proceed.

The ad aired during the first two games of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ford said the TV spot garnered "one billion views," as well as attention from as far away as the UK and India.

Addendum

Since taking office, Trump has imposed tariffs on a number of countries, including Canada.

The US has a 35% tariff on Canadian goods, although most are exempt under the current free trade agreement. However, some sectors have separate tariffs, including 50% on steel and aluminum and 25% on automobiles.

This week, Trump accused Canada of using the ad to interfere with an upcoming US Supreme Court case that will consider the legality of the president's widespread tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and dozens of other countries.