Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that Canada is ready to resume trade negotiations with the United States, which President Donald Trump suspended due to an anti-tariff announcement issued by the Ontario provincial government.
Trump ended negotiations Thursday over a video that featured Republican icon former President Ronald Reagan saying tariffs lead to trade wars and economic disasters.
In a late-night social media post, Trump called the ad fraudulent.
Carney has tried in two visits to the White House since becoming prime minister to reach an agreement to reduce import tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles imposed by Trump, which have hit the Canadian economy.
Read: What does Reagan say about tariffs in Canadian ad that angered Trump?
Carney says he is looking for “constructive negotiations”
“My colleagues have been working with their American colleagues in detailed and constructive negotiations, discussing specific sectors,” Carney said before leaving for his first official visit to Asia, where he aims to diversify trade ties away from the United States.
Carney had removed most of Canada’s repressive tariffs on U.S. imports imposed by his predecessor, but White House adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump was frustrated with Canada and that trade negotiations were not going well.
“I think the frustration has built up over time,” Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House. “The Canadians have been very difficult to negotiate with.”
When asked for more details, Hassett cited a “lack of flexibility.”
In a separate post on Friday, Trump accused Canada of trying to influence the US Supreme Court as it prepares to hear arguments next month on the legality of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.
More context: Premier Carney seeks to strengthen ties between Canada and Mexico in the face of US tariff threat
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation said the ad used “selective audio and video.” He indicated he was evaluating legal options.
The voice in the ad is Reagan, a hero to many US Republicans, criticizing tariffs on foreign goods as they cause job losses and trade wars. The video uses five full sentences from his weekly five-minute speech, assembled out of sequence.
“The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address (by Reagan in 1987), and the Government of Ontario neither sought nor received permission to use and edit the comments,” a statement from the Foundation said.
The ad fails to mention that Reagan was using the speech to explain that the tariffs imposed on Japan by his administration should be seen as a regrettably inevitable exception to his basic belief in free trade as the key to prosperity.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this week that his provincial government’s announcement, more than a week old, had caught Trump’s attention. Ford has frequently urged Carney to take a more aggressive approach with Trump.
In the broadcast, Reagan says, “When someone says, ‘We impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it sounds like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs.”
“And sometimes, for a short time, it works, but only for a short time.”
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It also says: “(…) in the long run, such trade barriers harm all American workers and consumers,” and that the result of trade wars is that “markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries close; and millions of people lose their jobs.”
Earlier on Thursday, Canada slashed tariff-free import quotas for General Motors and Stellantis, citing their decisions to reduce manufacturing in the country.
Trump’s trade war has raised US tariffs to their highest levels since the 1930s, and he has regularly threatened to impose more tariffs, raising concerns among businesses and economists.
Next year, the US, Canada and Mexico must review their 2020 continental free trade agreement.
Carney said he recognizes that US trade policy has fundamentally changed.
“A lot of progress has been made, and we are ready to pick up on that progress and continue to build on it when Americans are ready to have those discussions, because it will be for the benefit of workers in the United States, workers in Canada and families in both countries.”
With information from Reuters.
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