Canadian Prime Minister: I Did Apologize to Trump

According to CCTV News, when asked on October 31 local time whether the United States and Canada would restart negotiations, US President Trump responded, "No."

Separately, Reuters reported on November 1 that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated he had apologized to Trump over an anti-tariff advertisement. The advertisement quoted former US President Ronald Reagan's speech on free trade to criticize trade barriers. Harper said, "I did apologize to President Trump, and he was unhappy about it." Harper also mentioned that trade negotiations would resume "when the United States is ready."

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the 31st: "I have a great relationship with Harper; I like him very much. But what they did was wrong. He apologized to me for that commercial." "It was a false ad, totally reversing the facts. Ronald Reagan loved tariffs."

The government of Ontario, Canada, launched an advertisement on October 14 that included an excerpt from former President Reagan's 1987 radio address: "Tariffs are effective only for a short time... hurting all American workers and consumers." The advertisement then added a comment: "High tariffs inevitably lead to foreign retaliation and trigger fierce trade wars."

On October 23, the Reagan Foundation issued a public statement saying that the aforementioned advertisement distorted Reagan's original intent and that the Ontario government had not obtained authorization to use the material. The foundation is considering legal action to protect its rights.

On the same day (October 23), Trump announced the suspension of trade negotiations with Canada, accusing Canada of "deceptively" claiming that former US President Reagan opposed tariffs. On October 25, Trump also stated that due to Ontario's television advertisement targeting US tariff hikes, he intends to impose an additional 10% tariff on goods imported from Canada, on top of existing tariffs.