Trump adds 10% tariff Canada for Reagan trade ad
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney waves next to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 7, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was slapping an extra 10% tariff on imports from Canada in retaliation for what he says is a misleading TV ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement in Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“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,” he wrote.
Canada generally pays a 35% tariff on goods sold in the U.S., with exceptions for certain products covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and other specific product exceptions, such as steel and aluminum, which are tariffed at 50%.
“`
Reagan Foundation Ad Sparks Controversy
“And sometimes, for a short while, it works — but only for a short time.”
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” Reagan said in the speech and in the ad.
Ford, who calls himself a “big Ronald Reagan fan,” first posted the ad on X on Oct. 16, days after saying that Ontario’s government would spend $75 million to run the ad in the United States.
“We’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is, right across the entire country,” said Ford.
Trump raged about the ad in a Truth Social post on Friday morning.
“CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump wrote.
“Canada is trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country. Canada has long cheated on Tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%. Now they, and other countries, can’t take advantage of the U.S. any longer. Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD.”
The Supreme Court in early November is set to hear oral arguments in a case that will determine if Trump had power under the law to impose sweeping tariffs against scores of countries, including Canada, without the consent of Congress.
