Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pressuring U.S. President Donald Trump to end his punishing global trade war.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is launching a $75-million advertising campaign in the United States featuring late Republican president Ronald Reagan’s dire warning about the impact of tariffs on the American economy.
It is the latest attempt from Mr. Ford’s government to reach American audiences – including Republicans – to put pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to end his punishing global trade war.
Ontario also launched a multimillion-dollar television campaign last winter – budgeted at around $40-million – highlighting the close economic ties between the U.S. and the province. In total, the province will have spent upwards of $100-million on U.S. advertising since last year.
The new 60-second TV ad features present-day images of workers, such as welders and bakers, and families and is voiced with Mr. Reagan’s April 25, 1987, radio address decrying American protectionism, saying such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” Mr. Reagan says.
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“Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs. Throughout the world, there’s a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition.”
According to Mr. Ford’s office, the ad will begin airing on Newsmax and Bloomberg this week. It will also air on other networks – including Fox, NBC, CBS, CNBC, ESPN and ABC – within two weeks, through to the end of January 2026.
Mr. Ford unveiled the cost of the ads during a speech Tuesday at an Empire Club of Canada luncheon in downtown Toronto. He said the province intends to repeat the message “to every Republican district” in the U.S.
“We’re just going to speak the truth,” he said.
“That ad, it’s not a nasty ad. It’s actually just very factual. Coming from a person like Ronald Reagan, every Republican is going to identify that voice.”
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, right, stands with former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and an officer from the RCMP in Toronto in June, 1988.Reuters Photographer/Reuters
Mr. Ford also said the ads might not air on CNN – a network on which the Premier appears frequently – but his office later clarified that while CNN is unlikely to approve the ad, it has not outright declined to air it.
Speaking to the business crowd of about 1,000 people, Mr. Ford cited research from Yale University that suggests Mr. Trump’s tariffs will cost American families $2,400 a year and cause the country to shed half a million jobs by the end of the year. He also said the auto tariffs will raise the costs for American automakers by nearly US$108-billion this year, according to the Center of Automotive Research in the U.S.
“Personally, if it were me, these aren’t the kind of numbers I’d want to bring into the midterms,” Mr. Ford said.
“But there’s good news for President Trump. The fastest, surest and easiest way to reverse America’s economic decline: end the tariffs. Make a deal with Canada, your number one customer in the entire world.”
Mr. Ford also praised Prime Minister Mark Carney, who met with Mr. Trump for the second time at the White House last week, as an astute business person. But he repeated his call for Canada to hit back against the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs if the trade war drags on. The Premier said Mr. Carney would be meeting with him in Toronto on Thursday.
Mr. Ford also said he disagreed with the premiers of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, who have called for Canada to drop its 100-per-cent tariffs on electric vehicles from China in exchange for China lifting tariffs on canola products, which have hurt the western provinces.
Mr. Ford said he understood why Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew want the federal government to act, but said it’s not in the interest of Ontario and its auto sector.
“I respect what they’re doing, but there’s no damn way we should drop tariffs on China, I’ll tell you that. Absolutely not,” Mr. Ford said after his speech during a question-and-answer session with radio and TV host Ben Mulroney.