Carney: ‘We stand ready’ for Trump to resume trade talks
Written by The Canadian Press on October 24, 2025
OTTAWA — Canadian negotiators “stand ready” for the Americans to resume trade negotiations, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly ended those talks late Thursday night.
Trump lashed out over an ad campaign fielded by the Ontario provincial government that features footage of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan saying tariffs are damaging to economies.
Standing on the tarmac outside Ottawa’s airport, Carney said Canada can’t control a U.S. trade policy which has “fundamentally changed.”
“Our officials, my colleagues, have been working with their American colleagues on detailed, constructive negotiations, discussions on specific transactions, specific sectors — steel, aluminum and energy — and a lot of progress has been made,” he said.
“We stand ready to pick up on that progress and build on that progress, when the Americans are ready to have those discussions.”
Carney spoke just before jetting off to Asia to attend several international summits that Trump is also expected to attend.
While Trump is responding to actions by the province of Ontario, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pinning the blame on the prime minister, who has vowed to resolve the ongoing trade conflict.
“Carney promised to ‘negotiate a win’ with President Trump and to get a deal by July 21st. Still no deal. Still no win,” Poilievre said in a post on X. “Liberal elbows gone. U.S. tariffs up. Jobs headed south.”
Carney met with Trump at the White House just a few weeks ago, and Canadian officials had signalled they were making progress on sector-specific deals on steel and aluminum.
Trump doubled down on his criticisms on Friday, accusing Canada of trying to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on his global tariff regime.
America’s top court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in November on the legality of Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — IEEPA — to hit most of the world with devastating duties.
Trump posted Friday that “CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT” for saying Reagan did not like tariffs, which Trump also claimed the late president “LOVED.”
Reagan was a staunch advocate of free trade. He negotiated the trilateral NAFTA trade pact with Canada and Mexico that changed the structure of the modern North American economy and removed many trade barriers, including tariffs.
The Ontario government paid about $75 million for the ads, which use audio and video of Reagan speaking about tariffs in 1987 and have aired across multiple American television stations.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to Trump’s criticisms by posting on social media Friday morning that Reagan knew Canada and the U.S. are “stronger together.”
Ford also linked to a video of Reagan’s full remarks.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” Reagan said in the 1987 radio address that was used in the Ontario ads.
“Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs.”
On Thursday, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute posted on social media that the ads misrepresent the president’s address and that Ontario did not seek or receive permission to “use and edit the remarks.”
Ford’s office said in a statement in response to the Reagan Foundation that the commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of Reagan’s public addresses, available through public domain.
Ford’s office said he would not be available to answer questions Friday and his government cancelled two planned press conferences by the housing and environment ministers.
When the ads launched, Ford said he intended to blast Reagan’s anti-tariff message across America.
“We’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country,” Ford said on Oct. 15.
Trump said earlier this week he saw the ad on television and claimed it showed that his tariffs were having an impact.
“I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said at the time.
— With files from Allison Jones and Maan Alhmidi in Toronto, Sarah Ritchie and The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2025.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press