Oct. 24 marked a significant shift in trade relations between the United States and Canada; after discovering a political advertisement aired by the Provincial Government of Ontario, Canada, Trump announced on social platform X that he would be “terminating” all trade talks with the country.
Starting on Oct. 16, the ad ran extensively, with placements during games one and two of the World Series. It highlighted various people and how they live, underscoring that no one is unaffected by tariffs. The video’s background audio is a radio broadcast from former president Ronald Reagan’s “Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade,” delivered on April 25, 1987. In the broadcast, Reagan said tariffs “hurt every American” and result in “market shrinkage.”
The original transmission informed Americans of Reagan’s decision to impose tariffs on Japanese products due to Japan’s failure to fulfill trade agreements with the USA. Reagan used this decision to demonstrate the importance of free trade to other countries.
After the Ronald Reagan Foundation accused Canada of using the radio broadcast “fraudulently,” Trump said the Canadian ad was fake, criticizing it for its negative portrayal of tariffs.
“They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts,” Trump said in an X post. “Tariffs are very important to the national security and economy of the USA.”
ULM agricultural business professor Gary Cross provided insights on how this issue may relate to U.S. trade deficits. Cross said that states such as Louisiana import energy and natural resources from Canada, making American consumers the largest buyers of Canadian products.
“Agriculture is the number one export, and all trade partners will target their tariffs toward agriculture,” Cross said. “We have a really bad trade deficit with Canada because we let a lot of products come in.”
As trade negotiations with Canada are currently stalled, economics professor Shaomeng Jia said this decision will likely lead to job losses in certain manufacturing sectors. While Louisiana is not a top exporter to Canada, it still has significant exports.
“Considering the upward pressures on unemployment rate over the past few months, this is only going to make matters worse before they return to negotiating matters with each other again,” Jia said. “Midwestern states such as North Dakota and Michigan will likely be affected rather than southern states like Florida.”
As of now, citizens wait to see if the president will resume trade negotiations with Canada. The outcome of these discussions could significantly impact economic relations and trade.
