Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
“I apologized to the president,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Donald Trump accepted the apology and likes Carney very much, but he will not resume trade negotiations between the two countries.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carneyconfirmed this Saturday that he apologized to the US president, Donald Trumpbecause of a controversial advertisement against customs tariffs, which used speeches by the former president Ronald Reagan to criticize these same tariffs.
The announcement, which p, led to suspension of negotiations trades that were ongoing between the two countries.
At the time, the North American president reacted immediately with a publication on Social Truth, in which he criticized Canada’s “scandalous behavior”, and applied additional fees of 10% to Canadian exports to the United States.
“In light of your scandalous behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE CLOSED,” wrote Donald Trump, using capital letters.
“I apologized to the president”, Carney told journalists this Saturday, after a summit in the Asia-Pacific region held in South Korea. The Canadian leader explained that he had offered a private apologyduring dinner on Wednesday.
Carney’s statements come one day after Trump told journalists that the Canadian Prime Minister had expressed his regret, note the . Despite the apology, Trump will not resume negotiations trade with Canada, says .
“I have a very good relationship with Carney. I like him a lot, but what they did was wrong. He was very cordial. He apologized for what they did with the advertisement, which it was a false advertisement”, disse Trump.
The ad, broadcast by the government of the Canadian province of Ontario, is actually one by then-president Ronald Reagan, in a radio speech on trade in April 1987. In the video, the Republican president, known for his support for free markets and free trade, says that tariffs on products foreigners would lead to trade wars and job losses.
Mark Carney also stated that he had told Ontario Premier Doug Fordwho did not want the ad to be broadcast. The advertising piece, which included excerpts from Reagan’s speeches, was aimed at the North American public and was broadcast during the baseball World Series finals.
“I told Ford I didn’t want to move forward with the announcement”, declared Carney.
Doug Ford, however, boasted that the advertising campaign had been “very effective” precisely because it irritated Trump. “Do you know why President Trump is so angry right now? Because the ad worksu. It was working, it woke up the whole country,” said Ford.
