Washington – President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Saturday (25) a 10% increase in tariffs on Canada, in reaction to an advertising campaign launched by the Canadian province of Ontario, which cited former North American president Ronald Reagan to criticize protectionist policies.
The 60-second video, broadcast in the US since October 16, reproduces excerpts from Reagan’s 1987 radio speech in defense of free trade. The piece, which showed images of American farms, closed businesses and families facing economic difficulties, ended with the message “Ontario, Canada” over the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor (Canada) to Detroit (USA).
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Trump’s reaction was immediate. In a publication in Truth Social, the president classified the propaganda as a “serious misrepresentation of the facts” and a “hostile act”, stating that tariffs will be raised by 10% beyond the current level. The measure interrupted bilateral negotiations on steel and aluminum tariffs and increased tensions in a trade relationship that generates around US$900 billion a year.
An ad that got out of control
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the government will suspend the campaign in the United States starting Monday (27), after speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Regardless, ads will still run during the first two games of the World Series this weekend.
According to Bloomberg, Trump’s attack itself helped expand the reach of propaganda, in a phenomenon known as Streisand Effect — when attempts to suppress content end up boosting its visibility. In less than 24 hours, views of the video on Ford’s social networks jumped from 578 thousand to 1.5 million.
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“The curious thing is that, after Trump’s reaction, the whole world started to hear what Reagan was saying about tariffs, when before it would have been an announcement restricted to the American public,” said economist Derek Holt, from the Bank of Nova Scotia.
Repercussion and impact
The Ontario government’s media plan called for an investment of C$75 million (US$54 million), with broadcast on major networks such as Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, Newsmax and Bloomberg Television. The objective, according to Ford, was to reach districts controlled by Republicans and convince the so-called “Reagan Republicans” — historical defenders of free trade — to oppose the “MAGA” wing, more aligned with Trump’s protectionist policy.
The commercial, however, omitted that Reagan, when condemning protectionism, had also imposed specific tariffs on Japan, classifying them as “special cases”. The Ronald Reagan Foundation said the use of the excerpts was “selective,” while Trump called the video “fake.”
Analysts believe that the episode tests the old advertising adage that “there is no such thing as bad publicity”. For consultant Brian Wieser, media expert and former advertising executive, “judging the effectiveness of a campaign is an art — and it has certainly become the talk of the town.”
Negotiations stalled
After the controversy, Trump told reporters that he does not intend to meet with Mark Carney during the next international meetings in Asia, declaring that he is “satisfied with the current trade agreement with Canada”.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government is trying to resume talks about reducing tariffs on steel and aluminum, in exchange for greater access for the Canadian energy sector to the American market — a dialogue that now seems distant.
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