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President Trump said Friday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney apologized to him for an ad produced by the province of Ontario that spotlighted Ronald Reagan’s opposition to tariffs — after Trump broke off trade talks with Canada in protest of the commercial.
“He was very nice. He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial. You know, it was the exact opposite, Ronald Reagan loved tariffs,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the weekend.
Asked if he would resume trade negotiations with Carney, Trump said, “No, but I have a very good relationship. I like him a lot.”
Trump and Carney dined together Wednesday in South Korea alongside other national leaders gathered for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference — after the president broke off talks last Thursday.
The ad that outraged Trump was produced by Ontario’s Conservative-led government and not by Carney’s Liberal administration.
It aired a clip Reagan saying: “When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting Americans products and jobs. And sometimes for a short time it works, but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars, then the worst happens, markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan says in the audio.
“The way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition.”
English (US)