(Reuters) -The 1987 radio address by the late former U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the centre of a new U.S.-Canada row was a defence of free but fair trade in which he explained his decision to put duties on Japanese goods in a trade dispute.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement by the Canadian province of Ontario in which Reagan was featured speaking negatively about tariffs.
Separately, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation issued a statement saying the ad used “selective audio and video” and misrepresented the address.
Reagan’s 5-minute statement contains a strong defence of the benefits of free trade while explaining his decision the week before to impose tariffs on Japan due to its “inability to enforce their trade agreement with us on electronic devices called semiconductors.”
“We expect our trading partners to live up to their agreements. As I’ve often said: Our commitment to free trade is also a commitment to fair trade,” he said.
(Reporting by Mark John, Editing by William Maclean)
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