Trump Slaps Canada With Tariff Hike After ‘Fraudulent’ Ad: ‘Caught, Red Handed!’
President Donald Trump said he is slapping an additional 10% tariff on Canada after the Government of Ontario ran a “fraudulent” TV advertisement where ex-President Ronald Reagan bashes tariffs, with the president saying Canada was “caught, red handed” manipulating Reagan’s viewpoint.
The president announced the tariff hike in a Truth Social post on Saturday afternoon.
“The sole purpose of this FRAUD was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their ‘rescue’ on Tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States,” Trump posted. “Now the United States is able to defend itself against high and overbearing Canadian Tariffs (and those from the rest of the World as well!)”
Trump continued: “Ronald Reagan LOVED Tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy, but Canada said he didn’t!”
The president then ripped Canada for allowing the ad to continue playing, including during the first game of the World Series on Friday night.
“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” Trump said.
The ad that upset Trump started running earlier this week. Reagan, in the ad, said tariffs may seem “patriotic,” but that they ultimately “hurt every American worker and consumer” and “inevitably lead to retaliation” from foreign trade partners.
Trump, in his Truth Social post, referred to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute pushing back on the ad soon after it came out. The Reagan Foundation said the ad relied on “selective audio” of the ex-president, from a speech he gave in 1987.
President Trump’s tariff announcement also comes two days after he said all trade negotiations with Canada were “HEREBY TERMINATED” because of the “egregious” TV ad.
The 10% tariff hike adds to the 35% broad tariff on most Canadian goods; other industries, like steel and auto parts, have a 25% tariff in place, while there is a 10% tariff on Canadian lumber.
Trump has said tariffs have been a key negotiating tool for him since returning to the White House earlier this year. He has recently said, on multiple occasions, that tariffs have allowed him to stop wars before they have happened, like when he said he threatened Iraq and Pakistan with crippling tariffs if they went to war.
