US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada’s anti-tariff ad, featuring former US President Ronald Reagan, was “propaganda” and part of “psy-ops.”
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on CNBC, Bessent answered a question about why President Donald Trump was setting trade policy based on a television ad he didn’t like. The ad, released on October 16, contained a voiceover of Reagan’s 1987 address in defence of free and fair trade.
“This is a kind of propaganda against US citizens,” Bessent said to CNBC. “It’s psy-ops.”
“Why would the government of Ontario — I’m told that they have spent, or were planning to spend, up to $75 million on these ads to come across the US border,” he added. “So what was the purpose of that other than to sway public opinion?”
Bessent, who is in Asia with Trump inking trade deals, acknowledged that the ad had been taken down. But he said putting the ad up had been “terrible, terrible judgment” by Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford.
During a Sunday “Face the Nation” interview with CBS’s Margaret Brennan, Bessent made a similar statement, calling the ad an “interference in US sovereign matters.”
“It’s clearly damaged our relationship with the most populous province in Canada,” he told Brennan.
Representatives for the US Treasury and the Ontario Premier’s Office did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
How the ad backlash unfolded
The Canadian province of Ontario’s minute-long ad included a voiceover of Reagan’s 1987 “Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.” The address said that while tariffs may seem “patriotic,” they eventually “hurt every American worker and consumer” and lead to retaliation and trade wars.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said on Thursday that Ontario had misrepresented Reagan’s comments, and the province had not sought the foundation’s permission to use or edit the former president’s remarks.
Trump slammed Ontario’s ad in a Friday Truth Social post, saying he would end trade negotiations with Canada over the ad.
Ontario’s premier, Ford, said in a Friday X post that his intention with the ad was to “initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses.”
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels,” he said. “I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games.”
However, Ford said he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and decided to pause the ad from Monday so trade talks could continue.
The ad was aired during the World Series games over the weekend. Trump said in a Saturday Truth Social post that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Canadian goods, above the current rate.
Tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement were taxed at 35% before the proposed 10% hike. Trump has also imposed separate tariffs on products like automobile parts.
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