Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has apologised to US President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff political advertisement that used a Ronald Reagan quote.
Mr Carney, speaking to reporters on Saturday after attending an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, said he had made the apology privately because Mr Trump was "offended".
"I did apologise to the president," he said.
The ad used a series of clips from former president Reagan's 1987 national radio address, in which he argued that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
Mr Trump said the ad was fraudulent and misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party.
But Reagan was wary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 address featured in Ontario's ad spelling out the case against them, saying tariffs work "only for a short time" and "hurt every American worker and consumer".
"High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars," Reagan said, as quoted by the ad.
Mr Carney said the ad, which was funded by the province of Ontario, was "not something I would have done".
He said that Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who commissioned the ad, had shown the clip to him beforehand but the PM advised him not to go forward with it.
"I'm the one who is responsible, in my role as prime minister, for the relationship with the president of the US, and the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the US government," Mr Carney said.
The ad aired during the first two baseball World Series games.
In response to the ad last week, Mr Trump suspended trade talks with Canada and said he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Canadian imports.
He also accused Canada of using the ad to influence the US Supreme Court ahead of arguments scheduled this month that could decide whether Mr Trump has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs.
"TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED," he said in a post on Truth Social.
Canada's economy has been hit hard by Mr Trump's tariffs, and Mr Carney has been trying to work with Mr Trump to lower them.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US, and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($3.9 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
Formal talks with China prove beneficial Mr Carney said his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday were a turning point in relations after years of tensions.
The last formal meeting between the leaders of Canada and China happened in 2017 when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau had a brief exchange with Mr Xi at a meeting in San Francisco.
In recent years, Canadian citizens were detained and executed in China, and Canada's security authorities concluded that China interfered in at least two federal elections.
Mr Carney said he had discussed foreign interference with Mr Xi, among other issues.
The trip to Asia had been part of efforts to reduce Canada's reliance on the US.
"It can't happen overnight, but we're moving very fast," he said.
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