By Maria Cheng
OTTAWA (Reuters) -The premier of Canada’s most populous province has again complicated the country’s delicate trade negotiations with the U.S., this time with a political ad targeting Americans that has drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The ad, commissioned by Doug Ford, Ontario's outspoken Conservative premier who is sometimes compared to Trump, uses a snippet of Republican icon and former President Ronald Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
In a series of posts on Truth Social late on Thursday, Trump called the ad fraudulent, declaring that “ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney, unlike Ford, has sought to lower the temperature with Trump since taking office in March and had hoped for a deal to eliminate U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports.
In March, Ford, who often sports a "Canada is not for sale" hat, threatened to implement a surcharge on energy going to several American states if the U.S. moved ahead with tariffs on steel and aluminum. Ford later relented, and the White House claimed victory, saying he had “Backed down.”
Ford said in a Friday statement that after discussions with Carney, Ontario would pause the U.S. advertising campaign on Monday so that trade talks could resume.
But the disputed commercial will continue to air this weekend as the Toronto Blue Jays play in the first two games of the World Series, he added.
Ford said the message has reached U.S. audiences "at the highest levels."
ATTACK DOG APPROACH
Some analysts suggested that Ford’s ad was only a pretext for Trump’s outburst.
“Mr. Trump doesn’t like to be confronted with the truth,” said Asa McKercher, an expert in U.S.-Canada politics at St. Francis Xavier University. He said that the ad is an accurate representation of Reagan’s views.
Trump first saw the ad earlier in the week and said on Tuesday, "If I was Canada, I'd take that same ad also."
McKercher said that Ford has often used his aggressive and populist style to appeal to American audiences in appearances on conservative-leaning outlets like Fox News, but that his latest ad may have misfired.
The Canadian dollar weakened after Trump broke off trade talks, and Ontario is the province most impacted by auto and steel tariffs.
“When you use Ford’s attack-dog approach, there’s always a risk that you’re going to get smacked,” McKercher said, adding it would be Carney who might need to make concessions to get Trump back to trade negotiations.
Still, Ford's approach attracted some unusual support from politicians on the other side of the political spectrum.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who heads the left-leaning New Democratic Party in the province, posted a message for his "good friend Doug Ford," calling on him to keep running the ads.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May cheered "Go Doug Ford!" as she arrived at Parliament in Ottawa on Friday.
Pollster Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said Ford has acted "as the more pugilistic foil" when the prime minister has adopted a more conciliatory approach to Trump, noting that "it's not a stance that generally hurts him (Ford)."
In February, Ford handily won a rare third term as Ontario premier. Earlier this month, Ford said he confronted and threatened to beat up a suspected shoplifter at a Home Depot store, telling an audience at a Toronto club, “Screw this, I’m going after this guy.”
CLEARLY RESONATING
Trump previously called off trade talks with Canada in June, citing his objection to Canada’s digital services tax. Carney rescinded the tax later that month.
Under previous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump threatened numerous times to walk away from trade talks between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Laura Stephenson, chair of political science at Ontario’s Western University, said Carney does not have many good options, but that the situation is fixable.
“Ford can play the bad guy and Carney will have to be the level-headed guy trying to keep discussions on track,” she said.
Diamond Isinger, a former U.S.-Canada adviser to Trudeau, said Ford’s ad clearly resonated with American audiences.
“If the ad wasn’t effective, Trump would not be so deeply concerned about it,” she said.
(Reporting by Maria Cheng; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Marguerita Choy)
