Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on Saturday he apologised to United States President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad featuring former US leader Ronald Reagan and had told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to run it.
Trump announced he would be hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 per cent and terminated all trade talks following what he called the “fake” anti-tariff ad campaign.
“I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, adding trade talks would restart when the US is “ready”.
Carney also confirmed that he had reviewed the ad with Ford before it aired, but said he had opposed using it.
“I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said.
The ad, commissioned by Ford, an outspoken Conservative politician who is sometimes compared to Trump, uses a snippet of Republican icon and former president Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
Carney also called talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping a “turning point” in relations, adding he had raised tricky topics like foreign interference with Beijing.
Canada’s relations with China have been among the worst of any Western nation but both are at the sharp end of Trump’s tariff onslaught, even after Xi and the US leader’s deal on Thursday to dial back tensions.
China and Canada on Friday held their first formal talks between their leaders since 2017.
“We have now unlocked a path forward to address current issues,” Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, referring to China.
“Our overall discussion was constructive,” he added.
Carney said on Saturday he had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit “in the new year”.
“I directed our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to current challenges and to identify areas for cooperation and growth,” he said.