Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he told the Premier of Ontario not to run an anti-tariff ad that led President Trump to end trade negotiations with Canada.

Carney also confirmed that he apologized to the president during a dinner at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week because Trump was “offended.”

Ontario’s television ad that aired in the United States criticizes Trump’s tariffs by citing a speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

The announcement angered Trump, who ended trade talks with Canada and said he plans to raise tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an additional 10%.

Asked Saturday what Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s response was to being asked not to run the ad, Carney said, “Well, you saw what turned out.”

“It’s not something I would have done,” Carney added at a news conference at the conclusion of a nine-day trip to Asia.

Ford is a populist conservative, while Carney is a liberal. As prime minister, Ford is the equivalent of an American governor.

“I am responsible, in my role as prime minister, for the relationship with the president of the United States, and the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the United States government,” Carney said.

A Ford spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked if Carney told Ford not to run the ad.

Ford previously said that Carney and Carney’s chief of staff saw the ad before it was released.

Ford He took out the ad last Monday. but he allowed it to be demonstrated in the first two games of the World Serieswhere the Toronto Blue Jays play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Trump said the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party. But Reagan was wary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 speech that appears in the Ontario ad explaining the arguments against them, saying that tariffs work “only for a short time” and “harm all American workers and consumers.”

“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the unleashing of fierce trade wars,” Reagan was quoted as saying in the announcement.

Trump has complained that the announcement was aimed at influencing the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of arguments scheduled this month that could decide whether Trump has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs, a key part of his economic strategy. Lower courts had ruled that he had exceeded his authority.

Carney met Trump at the White House last month and has been trying to secure a trade deal to reduce some tariffs on sectors such as steel and aluminum. Tariffs are taking their toll on the aluminum, steel, automobile and lumber sectors.

More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the United States, and nearly C$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) in goods and services cross the border daily.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to approve a resolution that would block Trump’s tariffs on Canada. In a 50-40 vote, four Republicans joined Democrats to approve the measure, which would end the national emergency used to impose tariffs on some products from Canada.

The measure is primarily symbolic, as it is unlikely to be adopted in the GOP-controlled House.