The Gordie Howe International Bridge has been under construction since 2018, and links Detroit to Windsor, Canada. While being owned by both Michigan and Canada, Canada has financed the bridge almost in its entirety, at $4.5 billion. Canada intends to recoup the cost through tolls once the bridge opens.
But now Trump is threatening to block the opening of the bridge until Canada compensates the U.S. “for everything we have given them,” and until “Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect we deserve.”
Among Trump’s complaints:
- Ontario is not allowing U.S. alcoholic products on its shelves.
- Canada has tariffs on U.S. dairy products.
- Barack Obama allowed foreign, not U.S. steel, to build the bridge.
- Canada is making deals with China — who he claims will eat Canada alive, and leave nothing but crumbs for Trump.
- The U.S. should own “perhaps, at least one half of” the bridge.
Trump also claims that China will eliminate all hockey in Canada, including the Stanley Cup!!
At the 2018 groundbreaking, Snyder, who left office at the end of 2018, said the bridge would be “a thriving legacy named for a legend,” referring to the former Detroit Red Wing hockey great. Howe represented the best of Canada and the United States, Snyder said.
“With this threat, the president is punishing Michiganders for a trade war he started,” Slotkin added. “The only reason Canada is on the verge of a trade deal with China is because President Trump has kicked them in the teeth for a year.”
Michigan lawmakers under former Governor Rick Snyder declined to contribute to the cost of the bridge more than a decade ago. As part of that agreement, Canada has reimbursed the State of Michigan more than $54 million last year alone for related land acquisitions.