Description: US President Donald Trump abruptly suspended trade talks with Canada over what he branded as illegal interference by Canada in the US regarding the country’s trade interests and national security. The situation started unraveling after the province of Ontario advertised former US President Ronald Reagan and his opposition to the long – term effects of the tariff policy. Trump heavily criticized Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, for allowing such an advertisement to go on air, especially during the beginning game of the world series where the baseball teams Ontario Bluejays and Los Angeles Dodgers are meeting. Ford later retracted the ad and stated that Ontario’s and Canada’s goals have been established as the ad reached the vast majority of the American population. Trump later threatened that he would impose 10% additional tariffs on all Canadian goods which were facing 35% of tariffs on most products and 50% tariffs of aluminum and steel products. Trump also criticized the advertisement for attempting to influence SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) which is set to rule on Trump’s legal jurisdiction to unilaterally impose tariffs on countries next month.
Impact: Canada’s dangerous and risky diplomatic and political maneuver which solicited disproportionate reaction from the US President could potentially endanger trade talks going forward and put at the risk the progress made during the previous negotiations. Canada used an information influence tactics to put pressure on the wider American public and scrutinize Trump’s tariffs policies which are putting at risk long – term economic partnerships. Trump’s reactions indicate that all and any progress made through backchannel talks so far was retracted and positions Canada in a more unfavorable position than it was before the advertisement incident. Tensions after the immediate reactions on both sides are expected to deflate, however, future negotiations would be impacted by Canada’s political overtures. The Supreme Court’s decision next month would represent the final verdict on the legality of Trump’s tariffs. The US President is expected to receive a favorable decision, taking into account ramifications and consequences on the foreign policy front since most of the US foreign policy in Trump’s second term is contingent on the transactional and conditional power of economic instruments such as the tariffs.