David Eby says British Columbia’s anti-tariff ads, aimed at Americans, will go ahead

VICTORIA – British Columbia Premier David Eby said the province plans to push ahead with anti-tariff advertisements aimed at the American public, days after U.S. President Donald Trump blamed a campaign by Ontario for his cancellation of trade talks with Canada.

B.C. had announced the ads last week, with Eby saying at the time they were to defend the province and Canada against the threat from U.S. softwood lumber tariffs.

The premier said on Monday after the scuttling of the U.S.-Canada talks late last week that it remained “crucial” to deliver the message about tariffs directly to Americans, and the province reserved the right to do that, including by advertising.

He told an unrelated news conference that the B.C. ads were on a different scale from the Ontario government’s $75-million campaign, which Eby said he “unambiguously” supported.

A spokesman for Eby’s office says the timber tariff ads were expected to run in November.

Ontario’s ad campaign in U.S. markets featured parts of a 1987 speech in which former U.S. president Ronald Reagan warned that tariffs lead to trade wars and damage economies in the long run.

B.C.’s digital advertising campaign comes amid growing concerns about the state of the provincial softwood lumber industry, which Eby said the United States was treating worse than Russia’s. 

“This kind of nonsense and absurdity needs to be brought to the attention of the American people, and the decision-makers,” Eby said, calling timber a “foundational” industry for Canada and British Columbia that finds itself on the edge of survival.

Current tariffs and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber now add up to 45 per cent after the Trump administration slapped another 10 per cent on Canadian lumber exports. Eby said the softwood lumber industry was already challenged before the latest tariff announcement. 

“But now, we are seeing mills close,” he said. “We are seeing the loss of shifts accelerate.” 

Eby said he had asked federal Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to travel to B.C. for an emergency meeting about the state of the industry. 

Eby also announced the opening of a trade office in Britain, focused on expanding access for B.C. forest products there, the European Union, North Africa and select markets in the Middle East. 

“This is the work that we are continuing to do to pivot to other markets as well,” Eby said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.