US President Donald Trump has made the trade dispute between the two countries more serious by announcing an additional 10 percent tariff increase on Canada. This strict move by Trump comes after Canada called an advertisement that allegedly misused the historic speech of former US President Ronald Reagan a ‘fraud’. It is noteworthy that the US tariff on Canada has now increased to a total of 45 percent.
The Canadian government recently launched an advertising campaign, in which audio and video selected from the radio speeches of US President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s were used. The aim of this advertisement was to influence public opinion against the current tariff policies of the US by portraying Reagan as an opponent of tariffs.
However, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute strongly condemned the ad, saying that the audio-video was used improperly and without their permission. The foundation has also threatened legal action.
US President Trump criticized the incident on social media, writing, “Canada put up a fake ad of Ronald Reagan’s speech on tariffs. Its sole purpose was to get the US Supreme Court to defend itself, even though they have been imposing high tariffs that are hurting America for years. Reagan was a supporter of tariffs for national security and the economy, not against them.”
The matter escalated when, despite an order to immediately remove the ad, it was aired during a World Series game. The Trump administration believes this was a deliberate ploy.
The Canadian government has not yet issued an official statement on the incident, but the Premier of Ontario has called the announcement a ‘mistake’ during trade negotiations and has assured that it will be rectified soon. However, Trump has announced a 10 percent additional tariff on Canadian imports in response to the dispute. This new tariff increase could cost Canada’s exports billions of dollars annually, which has increased tensions in the trade relations between the two countries.
