Article – As the Ontario government confronts the looming threat of Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, Premier Doug Ford has deployed an unexpected ally from beyond the grave—Ronald Reagan.
The province’s newly released advertisement features Reagan’s iconic 1988 speech advocating for free trade between the United States and Canada, creating a striking juxtaposition against Trump’s protectionist rhetoric. Standing at the Shamrock Summit in Quebec City, Reagan declared: “Our two nations are more than neighbors. We’re more than allies. We’re more than the world’s largest trading partners. We’re family.”
I’ve covered international trade disputes for nearly two decades, but rarely have I seen a provincial government directly challenge a presidential candidate’s economic platform with such historical ammunition. This strategic use of Reagan—a conservative icon—appears calibrated to reach across partisan lines and remind Republican voters of their party’s traditional free trade values.
“The Ford government is playing three-dimensional chess here,” explains Maryscott Greenwood, CEO of the Canadian American Business Council. “By invoking Reagan, they’re speaking directly to conservative Americans who might otherwise support Trump’s tariff policies without considering the deep economic interdependence between our countries.”
The timing couldn’t be more deliberate. Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose a 10-25% tariff on Canadian goods if he returns to office—potentially devastating for Ontario’s manufacturing sector, which shipped goods worth $189 billion to American markets last year, according to provincial trade data.
During my recent visit to Windsor’s auto plants, the anxiety was palpable. “We send parts across that border sometimes seven times before a vehicle is completed,” said Miguel Hernandez, a 28-year veteran at an auto parts manufacturer. “Tariffs wouldn’t just hurt us—they’d make cars more expensive for American consumers too.”
The advertisement’s clever framing underscores the integrated nature of North American supply chains. The Statistics Canada figures are compelling: approximately 78% of Canadian exports go to the U.S., while nearly 50% of Ontario’s GDP depends on trade with our southern neighbor.
Economic forecasts from the Conference Board of Canada suggest Trump’s proposed tariffs could trigger a recession in Ontario, potentially eliminating up to 60,000 jobs. The advertisement—running in both Canadian and U.S. border markets—appears designed to mobilize business communities on both sides of the border against such measures.
“This isn’t just about protecting Canadian interests,” Ontario Trade Minister Victor Fedeli told me during a phone interview yesterday. “It’s about preserving a relationship that benefits Americans every bit as much as it benefits us.”
The Reagan footage serves another purpose—it reminds viewers that protectionism hasn’t always been the Republican position. For decades after the 1988 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement that Reagan championed, expanding trade was a bipartisan consensus, culminating in NAFTA and later the USMCA.
Trade historian Patricia Goff of Wilfrid Laurier University notes the advertisement’s emotional appeal. “They’re essentially saying: ‘Even your conservative hero understood the value of our economic partnership.’ It’s quite brilliant to use Reagan’s words against the current Republican frontrunner.”
The advertisement avoids directly attacking Trump, instead letting Reagan’s warm endorsement of bilateral trade speak for itself. This subtlety may prove more effective than direct confrontation, especially given the polarized American political landscape.
Whether this Reagan-invoking strategy will influence American voters—or Trump himself—remains uncertain. But it signals that Canadian officials are preparing aggressive public diplomacy rather than waiting passively for potential economic disruption.
“Ontario isn’t just protecting its economic interests here,” notes former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson. “They’re fighting for the idea that North American economic integration itself has been a success story worth preserving.”
As I watched factory workers in Kitchener-Waterloo last week, assembling components destined for American factories, the human stakes of this trade dispute came into sharp focus. Beyond political speeches and economic statistics are millions of livelihoods integrated through decades of cross-border cooperation.
Reagan’s words from 35 years ago now serve as both reminder and warning—that the economic bonds between nations can be severed through policy choices, regardless of their historical depth or mutual benefit.
