Trump threatens to raise tariffs on Canada over advertising
26 October 09:15
U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to raise tariffs on imports of goods from Canada to the United States by an additional 10 percent. The reason is a video criticizing the duties that appeared on Canadian television, which used quotes from Ronald Reagan, Trump wrote on Saturday, October 24, in a post on his social network Truth Social, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the head of the White House, the video, sponsored by the authorities of the Canadian province of Ontario, deliberately “distorted” fragments of Reagan’s address to US citizens, in which he spoke with skepticism about trade duties. Trump called it a “fraud” and claimed that Canada deliberately aired the ad during the World Series, a major sporting event for the United States and Canada. In addition, the creators of the video did not receive permission from the copyright holders to use fragments of the Reagan video, the US president said.
According to Trump, Canada’s goal is to influence the decision of the US Supreme Court, which will soon decide whether the head of the White House exceeded his authority by imposing duties on goods from most countries in the spring. Lower courts in the United States have previously ruled that Trump did not have such a right.
The Associated Press notes that it is currently unclear what legal authority Trump will use to justify the additional tariffs. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on when the increase announced by Trump will take effect and whether it will apply to all Canadian goods.
The video that angered the US president was targeted at an American audience. It used excerpts from Reagan’s 1987 video address, which included statements that duties are an ineffective tool in the long run.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said that Reagan “loved tariffs”. Republican Ronald Reagan, who served as president of the United States from 1981 to 1989, was indeed distinguished by a number of protectionist decisions. However, in his speech, excerpts from which were used in the Canadian advertisement, he emphasized the negative consequences of protectionism for the economy, from the lack of progress in technology to mass unemployment and the financial crisis. The address was recorded by Reagan to explain his decision to impose a duty on imports from Japan, which he accused of unfair competition.
