Canadian officials may have said they were caught off guard last week when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was cutting off trade negotiations with Canada over Ontario’s anti-tariff advertisement, but sources say Premier Doug Ford’s bad cop act— and tough words for Trump — has been an irritant.
Two sources with knowledge of the talks said the Americans had warned Canadians “for months” that the Ontario premier’s comments were troubling to the Trump administration.
CBC News is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the trade negotiations.
Ford, who in recent weeks has called Trump a “tyrant” and vowed to not “let him roll over Ontario,” had been an ardent critic of the American president, with his comments ramping up in recent weeks as vehicle manufacturers, including Stellantis and General Motors, slow Canadian production.
He is also a frequent guest on American news programs, where he once called Trump “probably the most disliked politician in the world in Canada.” Ford has repeatedly threatened to use Ontario’s energy production as a bargaining chip in negotiations. His tough talk has found support from some Canadians, and helped his party cruise to a rare third-straight majority government.
One source said Ontario’s move to pull American booze from the LCBO is also an irritant; the province’s liquor board is one of the biggest wholesalers of alcohol in the world. Ontario and other provinces pulled American liquor from their shelves in March, in response to Trump’s first round of tariffs.
How Ontario’s tariff ad compares to Reagan’s original speech
The $75-million anti-tariff TV ad was the last straw in a series of complaints, sources say. The spot, which features a 1987 speech by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan decrying protectionism, will be pulled on Monday — after airing during two World Series baseball games.
Trump has called the advert a “fraud” and threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Canada, over and above the ones already in place, as punishment for not pulling the ad more quickly.
He hasn’t yet specified what that would look like, or when the additional levy might be imposed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has taken a more conciliatory approach to trade negotiations, dropping most non-sectoral counter-tariffs and building what appeared to be a friendly rapport with the U.S. president, which has included texting him on a regular basis.
Carney takes questions on U.S. trade, says he hasn’t spoken to president
On Monday, Carney said he felt the two countries were close to an agreement, until those ads ran.
“There were a series of very detailed, very specific, very comprehensive discussions … up until the point of those ads running,” he said, speaking from Kuala Lumpur, where he was attending the ASEAN summit.
Carney confirmed he hasn’t spoken to Trump since talks were put on ice, but repeated that Canada is ready to go back to the negotiating table when the U.S. is willing.
