Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford is no stranger to controversy, but his recent anti-tariff ad campaign has sent shockwaves through the highest levels of international diplomacy, putting Canada’s trade relationship with the United States under immense strain. What began as a bold attempt to challenge American tariffs has spiraled into a diplomatic standoff, with U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halting trade talks and threatening even harsher economic measures.
Ford, who donned a “Canada is not for sale” hat at a provincial leaders’ meeting in Ottawa, defended his government’s $75 million ad blitz, saying it achieved its primary objective: sparking a conversation in the United States that simply wasn’t happening before. “We have achieved our goal,” Ford told reporters in Toronto on October 27, 2025, emphasizing that the campaign generated “over a billion impressions around the world” on social media. According to the National Post, Ford declared, “Mission accomplished. They’re talking about it in the US, and they weren’t talking about it before I put the ad on.”
The ad at the center of the storm featured the unmistakable voice of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, lifted from a 1987 radio address in which he warned, “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.” Ford’s government ran both 30-second and 60-second versions of the spot, repurposing Reagan’s words as a pointed critique of Trump’s aggressive tariff policy and as a rallying cry against protectionism.
But the move backfired in spectacular fashion. Within hours of the ad airing—most notably during the first two games of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers—Trump broke off all trade negotiations with Ottawa. According to Reuters, the U.S. president was infuriated by the campaign, describing it as “dirty pool” and vowing to impose a further 10-percent duty on Canadian goods in retaliation. Over the weekend of October 25-26, Trump followed through, announcing an additional 10-percent increase in tariffs on Canadian imports, a blow that landed especially hard on Ontario’s automotive sector, the heart of Canada’s manufacturing industry.
The fallout extended beyond the White House. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute issued a rare public rebuke, stating Ontario’s government “did not seek nor receive permission” to edit or use Reagan’s remarks, and arguing the clip “misrepresents” the original intent of the former president’s message. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was traveling with Trump in Asia, tried to downplay the spat, suggesting retaliation against Canada was “second fiddle” to the administration’s broader trade talks with China and other partners, according to Press TV.
As the diplomatic drama unfolded, the finger-pointing began at home. Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of having “approved” the controversial ads, which Trump blamed as the reason for ending trade talks with Canada. “He claims he was on the verge, once again, claims that he was on the verge of getting a deal,” Poilievre told reporters. “Then he approved the ad, and then he blamed the ad for the fact that there is no deal.”
Ford, for his part, insisted that Carney and his chief of staff, Marc-Andre Blanchard, had both viewed the ad before it aired. Ford said he had also spoken to almost every Canadian premier, securing unanimous support for the campaign before releasing it. “Ontario’s goal is to make sure Canada gets a fair deal,” Ford said, adding pointedly, “Not a one-sided Donald Trump deal, but a fair deal for the people of Ontario and Canada.”
Carney’s government, however, has maintained that it was not involved in producing or distributing the ads. A senior federal official told CBC News that the federal government had no hand in the campaign. When pressed in the House of Commons, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc sidestepped direct questions about whether Carney or his staff had seen the ads ahead of time, instead defending the government’s negotiation stance: “We’re going to sign an agreement that benefits Canadian workers and the Canadian economy.”
The timing of the ad campaign could hardly have been more fraught. Carney was in the midst of a nine-day diplomatic trip to Asia when Trump posted on Truth Social that he was ending trade talks with Canada, citing his anger over Ford’s ads. On October 27, both leaders found themselves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attending the ASEAN summit. Yet, as Reuters and Press TV reported, there was no contact between them. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would not meet Carney at the summit—or “any time soon.”
Ford ultimately agreed to suspend the ad campaign at Carney’s request, but not before the commercials had already run during the high-profile World Series broadcasts. The premier later said it was never his intention to “poke the president in the eye,” but rather to send a message to Americans about the real-world impacts of the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war—one that began when Trump first slapped tariffs on Canadian goods.
The reverberations have spread across Canada. Other provincial leaders have responded in their own ways: British Columbia’s NDP Premier David Eby announced plans to launch a similar ad campaign targeting Americans over U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber, which Trump recently increased by 10 percent. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, meanwhile, said she was pleased to see Ontario remove its ads, cautioning that it was important to be “mindful that the U.S. administration is unpredictable.”
The economic stakes are high. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has borne the brunt of U.S. tariffs, particularly in the auto sector. Trump’s tariff offensive, which began with an executive order in July 2025 raising duties on Canadian goods from 25 percent to 35 percent, has forced Canadian leaders to seek new trade arrangements and consider expanding partnerships with other countries. Still, the USMCA trade deal remains in effect, ensuring that roughly 85 percent of cross-border trade continues tariff-free. Yet, as Carney noted on October 22, 2025, U.S. tariffs are now at levels not seen since the Great Depression—a stark warning of the risks ahead.
As the dust settles, it’s clear that Ford’s gamble has succeeded in putting the issue of tariffs front and center in both countries. Whether that conversation leads to a breakthrough or deepens the rift between Ottawa and Washington remains to be seen, but for now, the diplomatic standoff has left Canada’s economic future hanging in the balance.
