U.S. President Donald Trump has announced on social media he will be increasing “the Tariff on Canada” by 10 per cent “over and above what they are paying now” because of an advertisement by the Ontario government.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing it was a FRAUD,” the U.S. president added.
It’s unclear at the moment which tariff, or tariffs, the U.S. president is referring to. CBC News has reached out to the White House and the Prime Minister’s Office for details.
It’s the latest escalation by Trump over an advertisement by the Ontario government that uses the late U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s own words to send an anti-tariff message to American audiences.
WATCH | Ontario’s one-minute ad that uses Ronald Reagan’s anti-tariff message:
See the anti-tariff ad Doug Ford has been airing in the U.S.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government paid around $75 million to air this ad, featuring remarks from former president Ronald Reagan, on U.S. television stations — a move that has angered President Donald Trump.
On Thursday night, Trump said he was terminating all trade discussions with Canada over the advertisement, which he described then as fraudulent and fake.
He continued that criticism in his Saturday afternoon post, arguing that Reagan “LOVED” tariffs for national security purposes and the economy.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Friday his government will pull the advertisement from U.S. screens after this weekend, but millions more Americans are still expected to view it during the World Series game tonight.
Trump’s tariff and the U.S. Supreme Court
In his post, Trump also claimed the sole purpose of Canada’s “FRAUD” was hoping the United States Supreme Court will come to the country’s rescue.
The Trump administration has requested the Supreme Court overturn a ruling by the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals that the president’s move to impose broad-based tariffs on Canada, Mexico and dozens of other countries was unconstitutional.
WATCH | ‘It’s not just about one ad,’ says Trump economic adviser:
Canadians have been ‘very difficult’ to negotiate with on trade, Trump adviser says
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters in Washington on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media posts cutting off trade talks with Canada reveal ‘his frustration with the actions and postures of the Canadians through months of negotiations.’
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in November. If Trump loses, the tariffs he slapped on Canada and Mexico over fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration would be quashed, along with what he likes to call his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
On Thursday, Trump made a similar statement and claimed the Ontario ad was designed to “interfere” with what he called “THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE EVER.”
More to come.