Lebanon Today
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada is fully prepared to resume trade talks with the United States, after US President Donald Trump halted them following an announcement that sparked widespread controversy in both Canada and the United States.
Carney stated before departing Ottawa on his first official visit to Asia, “My colleagues have been working alongside their American counterparts in constructive and detailed negotiations, in addition to in-depth discussions on specific sectors, and we are ready to resume these talks at any time.”
It is worth mentioning that President Trump halted trade negotiations with Ottawa after the government of the province of Ontario published a promotional advertisement that used AI-generated clips of former US President Ronald Reagan, in which he says that “tariffs cause trade wars and economic disasters.”
According to US media, Trump considered the advertisement a “deliberate political provocation” and issued orders to freeze all bilateral talks until further notice.
It should be noted that during two previous visits to the White House since taking office, Carney sought to reach an agreement aimed at reducing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian imports of steel, aluminum, and automobiles, tariffs that have caused serious damage to the Canadian economy.
In a separate post on the “X” platform on Friday, Trump accused Canada of trying to influence the US Supreme Court, which is preparing next month to hear arguments on the legality of the comprehensive global tariffs imposed by Trump.
In a related context, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation stated that the advertisement used “selective audio and video clips” from the former president’s speeches, confirming that it is “considering legal options,” and stressing in its statement that the Ontario government “did not request and did not obtain permission to use or modify Reagan’s original statements.”
source: 961 today
