Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he told Ontario’s premier not to run an anti-tariff ad that prompted President Trump to end trade talks with Canada.
Carney also confirmed that he apologized to the president during a dinner at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week because Mr. Trump was “offended.”
Ontario’s television advertisement that aired in the U.S. criticizes Mr. Trump’s tariffs by citing a speech from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
The ad infuriated Mr. Trump, who ended trade talks with Canada and said he plans to hike tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10%.
Evan Vucci / AP 
When asked on Saturday what Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s response was to being asked not to run the ad, Carney said, “Well, you saw what came of it.”
“It’s not something I would have done,” Carney added at a news conference as he wrapped a nine-day trip to Asia.
Ford is a populist Conservative, while Carney is a Liberal. As premier, Ford is the equivalent of a U.S. governor.
“I’m the one who is responsible, in my role as prime minister, for the relationship with the president of the U.S., and the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the U.S. government,” Carney said.
A spokesperson for Ford didn’t immediately respond when asked if Carney told Ford not to run the ad.
Ford previously said Carney and Carney’s chief of staff watched the ad before it was released.
Ford pulled the ad last Monday but allowed it to be shown in the first two games of the World Series, where the Toronto Blue Jays are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mr. Trump said the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party. But Reagan was wary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 address featured in Ontario’s ad, spelling out the case against them, saying tariffs work “only for a short time” and “hurt every American worker and consumer.”
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” Reagan said, as quoted by the ad.
Mr. Trump has complained that the ad was aimed at influencing the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of arguments scheduled this month that could decide whether Mr. Trump has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs, a key part of his economic strategy. Lower courts had ruled he had exceeded his authority.
Carney met with Mr. Trump at the White House last month and has been trying to secure a trade deal to lower some tariffs on sectors like steel and aluminum. Tariffs are taking a toll on the aluminum, steel, auto and lumber sectors.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to approve a resolution that would block Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada. In a 50 to 40 vote, four Republicans joined Democrats to approve the measure, which would terminate the national emergency used to impose tariffs on some goods from Canada.
The move is mostly symbolic, since it is unlikely to be taken up in the GOP-controlled House.
