Ontario Rolls Out $75M US Anti-Tariff Ad Campaign Featuring Ronald Reagan

In this March 19, 1987, file photo, then-U.S. President Reagan gestures during a news conference at the White House in Washington. AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File

Ontario is using the words of late Republican U.S. President Ronald Reagan in its second multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to oppose U.S. tariffs.

The province is kicking off a new $75 million ad campaign this week, its second advertising blitz in the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods.

Premier Doug Ford played the ad prior to an Oct. 14 speech at an Empire Club of Canada luncheon in Toronto, describing it as an effort to “take Ronald Reagan’s words” and “blast it to the American people.”

The one-minute ad features images of America’s heartland and the Canada-U.S. border narrated by the words Reagan spoke in a 1987 radio address. Reagan, who was president from 1981 to 1989, advocated for the principles of free trade during the speech and criticized tariffs as a policy that increases prices and negatively impacts U.S. workers in the long-term.

“You see, at first, when someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works—but only for a short time,” Reagan says.

“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.”

Ford told an audience of more than 1,000 people that the ad would run on every major network in the United States, with the possible exception of CNN because “they’re a little nervous about it.”

“We’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country,” Ford said. “It’s not a nasty ad, it’s actually just very factual and coming from a person like Ronald Reagan… he was just the best president the country’s ever seen in my opinion.”

The latest ad campaign comes on the heels of a three-month ad campaign released by the provincial government at the beginning of the year, touting the province as America’s third-largest trading partner and the No. 1 export destination for 17 states. The commercial ran in the United States through the end of March and was expected to have 100 million viewers.

Impact of Tariffs

Ford has been vocal in his opposition of Trump’s tariffs, which have had a significant impact on some Ontario industries. The province has been adversely affected by the tariffs imposed on the steel and automotive industries, currently set at 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The unemployment rate in the province rose to 7.9 percent in September, up nearly a full percentage point from a year earlier, according to government statistics. Unemployment is thought to be higher in cities like Windsor and Oshawa, where auto factories are large employers.

Trump has increasingly leveraged more tariffs against Canada since spring, raising its 25 percent tax on all imports that do not adhere to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to 35 percent on Aug. 1.

Trump has also implemented a 50 percent tariff on copper and aluminum imports, a 35 percent tariff on softwood lumber, and a 25 percent tax on heavy-duty trucks. He more recently put a 100 percent levy on branded drugs whose manufacturers don’t have plants in the United States, a 50 percent tax on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.