Ontario will soon be running an ad on major U.S. networks featuring historic clips of former president Ronald Reagan slamming tariffs. <\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province will spend $75 million to run ads in the United States slamming the impact of tariffs and featuring clips of Ronald Reagan. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big Ronald Reagan fan,\u201d Ford said during a speech at the Empire Club of Canada Tuesday as he was laying out his government\u2019s plan to combat tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n
He explained that he got the idea to take Reagan\u2019s words on tariffs \u201cand blast it to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to launch a $75 million ad, and we\u2019re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is, right across the entire country,\u201d Ford said. <\/p>\n
He added that it won\u2019t be a \u201cnasty\u201d ad, just \u201cvery factual\u201d when it comes to tariffs. <\/p>\n
The ad, which Ford said will run on most major networks in the U.S., features an April 1987 clip of the late president talking about the pitfalls of tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen someone says, \u2018let\u2019s impose tariffs on foreign imports,\u2019 it looks like they\u2019re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs and sometimes for a short while, it works. But only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer,\u201d Reagan says in the clip.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n
The ad, which has not yet aired, overlays Reagan\u2019s voice with images of workers and families. <\/p>\n
\u201cComing from a person like Ronald Reagan, every Republican is going to identify that voice,\u201d Ford said. \u201cMaybe the younger Republicans can\u2019t remember, but he was just the best president the country\u2019s ever seen in my in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n