President Donald Trump said Saturday he is increasing the tariff on Canada by 10% over current levels, further escalating trade tensions over what he called a “fake” ad that featured parts of an anti-tariff speech by former President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding, “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.”
The president’s post came after he said Thursday he was terminating trade talks with Canada, threatening once again to upend the crucial economic relationship between the United States and its second-biggest trading partner. The new tariff is Trump’s latest salvo in his global trade agenda after he imposed a levy of 100% “over and above” any tariffs on China in retaliation for new export controls Beijing imposed on rare-earth minerals earlier this month.
Trump posted about the tariff while aboard Air Force One as he heads to Asia for a five-day trip beginning in Malaysia, where he will meet with Southeast Asian leaders. He is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of his trip in South Korea.
The Canadian ad, purchased by the government of Ontario and broadcast on major US television networks, featured clips from a speech in which Reagan railed against tariffs. The ad quoted Reagan, who said tariffs hurt “every American worker and consumer” and were “triggering fierce trade wars.”
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