B.C. Premier David Eby says the province won’t go ahead with airing anti-tariff ads in the United States as previously planned but will instead coordinate with Ottawa on any ads that may be aired going forward.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 23 that he was cancelling all trade talks with Canada due to the Ontario government’s airing of an anti-tariff ad featuring the late President Ronald Reagan.
“We did have a conversation about the advertisements today, and you know, one of the things that was crucial for me to communicate was that we needed an integrated, coordinated approach with the provincial and the federal government,” Eby said Nov. 3 during an unrelated press conference in Vancouver alongside Minister of Canada-U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc.
“Going forward, we’re going to ensure that our communications are aligned when the time comes to speak with the Americans.”
The Ontario government’s anti-tariff ad began airing in mid-October, including during a number of World Series games. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the ad had “offended” Trump, and led to the president saying on Oct. 23 that he was ending trade talks with Canada. This was followed on Oct. 24 by B.C. saying it would also broadcast anti-tariff ads.
After Trump said he was ending trade discussions, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he’d stop the ad, but only on Oct. 27, allowing the ad to continue over the weekend during the early two World Series championship games.
Trump then threatened on Oct. 25 to increase tariffs on Canada by an additional 10 percent because the ad wasn’t pulled immediately. Eby said on Oct. 27 that he was still going to proceed with his plan to air the ad.
Canada has been subject to 35 percent tariffs on all goods exported to the United States that are not covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) along with sectoral tariffs and duties on autos, steel, aluminum, copper, and softwood lumber. Carney has said that around 85 percent of Canadian goods remain tariff-free under USMCA.
Eby’s comments come amid news that Carney had phoned Ford “a couple of times” on his trip to Asia in late October to ask the Ontario premier to stop airing the ad. The ad in question featured a clip of Reagan speaking against protectionist measures in 1987. Trump has said the ad misrepresented Reagan’s stance on tariffs.
On Nov. 2, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Scott Bessent said Trump had not yet put the threatened 10 percent additional tariff into effect in the wake of Ontario’s ad. Bessent called the ad “election interference” and said it remains to be seen if the additional tariff would be put into place.
“The Premier of Ontario spent $75 million sending propaganda across the U.S. border via our airwaves,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of election interference. Nobody likes foreign election interference. Nobody likes foreign governments trying to sway public opinion for their own good.”
Ford said Carney did request that he “pull the ad” several times, but he said he proceeded with allowing it to run until Oct. 27 as scheduled. He said the advertisement campaign was meant to “initiate a conversation” about how tariffs affect workers.
Eby had previously said that B.C. was producing an ad because it was important that Americans understand that tariffs will raise U.S. prices.
Elsewhere across Canada, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew praised Ontario’s ad as being an accurate representation of Reagan’s views on tariffs, while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith differed, saying the decision to end the ad campaign was the right move.
Though the ad presents a pro-free trade comment by Reagan, the late president applied 100 percent tariffs on around $300 million of Japanese goods in 1987 after accusing Japan of not holding up its end of a trade agreement with the United States. It was Reagan’s radio address regarding this issue that Ontario’s ad pulled clips from.
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