Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has apologised to US President Donald Trump for an anti-tariff political advertisement aired in Ontario that reignited trade tensions between the two nations.
The ad, which used a clip of former US president Ronald Reagan, led Trump to raise tariffs on Canadian goods and halt bilateral trade talks.
Carney’s apology and Trump’s reaction
Speaking to reporters after an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, Carney said he had personally apologized to Trump during a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president on Wednesday.
“I did apologize to the president,” Carney confirmed, echoing remarks Trump made the following day.
Carney added that he had reviewed the ad before it aired but had urged Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to release it.
“I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said.
The advertisement, commissioned by Ford’s provincial government, featured a clip of Ronald Reagan warning that tariffs could trigger trade wars and economic disaster.
Tariffs raised, talks suspended
In response to the ad, Trump announced a 10% increase in tariffs on Canadian imports and said trade talks between Washington and Ottawa would remain suspended.
“I like him a lot but what they did was wrong,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial.”
The Ontario government’s ad, which leaned on Reagan’s free-market legacy, was seen in Washington as a direct political jab at Trump’s protectionist policies.
Carney seeks to repair ties and diversify trade
Carney said his Asia trip aimed to strengthen Canada’s economic ties beyond the United States, emphasizing that the shift “can’t happen overnight, but we’re moving very fast.”
During the same trip, Carney met Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling the discussion a “turning point” in Canada-China relations after years of diplomatic strain.
He said the two leaders discussed issues including foreign interference, following allegations that China had meddled in at least two Canadian federal elections.
The meeting marked the first formal interaction between the leaders of both countries since 2017, when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly spoke with Xi in San Francisco.
In recent years, relations between Ottawa and Beijing have been rocky, marked by the detention and execution of Canadian citizens in China and mutual accusations of espionage.
Carney’s renewed outreach signals an attempt to rebalance Canada’s foreign relations at a time when its most crucial economic partnership — with the US — faces heightened friction.
For now, Trump’s stance remains firm: trade talks with Canada will not resume until Washington is satisfied with Ottawa’s position.
