Canada Opens Gordie Howe International Bridge Amid U.S. Travel Advisory

When Canada and Michigan agreed to build a multibillion‑dollar bridge at the busiest U.S.–Canada border crossing, the bilateral relationship was markedly different.

In 2012, President Barack Obama enjoyed broad popularity among Canadians, and the two nations often saw eye‑to‑eye on issues ranging from border security to military cooperation. To honor both countries, the span linking Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit was named after Canadian hockey legend Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

On Friday the 6.4‑billion‑Canadian‑dollar bridge (about US$4.5 billion) will open, at least ceremonially, with a president in the White House who has imposed tariffs on Canada, mused about annexing the country, and delayed the bridge’s inauguration.

The latest setback arrived this week when Mr. Trump, whose approval ratings in Canada are as low as Mr. Obama’s were high, announced 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. In response, Canada withdrew its invitations for U.S. officials to jointly open the bridge and shifted the ceremony from the midpoint of the span to a less picturesque inspection plaza operated by the Canada Border Services Agency.

“In light of the trade actions threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory joint event,” said a spokesperson for Canada’s infrastructure minister. “The Gordie Howe International Bridge remains a vital infrastructure project that reflects years of hard work and will serve as a major economic engine.”

Some invitations for the ceremonial opening have now been rescinded twice. At the apparent request of the Trump administration, an opening planned for June was cancelled just days before the scheduled date.

Commercial traffic will not be permitted on the Gordie Howe Bridge until Monday. Nevertheless, with its soaring towers and animated lighting on the suspension cables, the structure stands as a flashy example of the large‑scale projects that Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, a Liberal, has promoted as a counterweight to Mr. Trump’s tariffs.

“It’s regrettable that things have come to this,” said Drew Dilkens, mayor of Windsor and an invited guest. “It simply reflects the current state of our relationship with the United States.”

He added: “It is a bit underwhelming, but that’s acceptable. We are where we are.”

Mr. Dilkens is among the many Canadians who hope the bridge’s opening will finally end a more than two‑decade‑long dispute with Michigan’s wealthy Moroun family, which owns the Ambassador Bridge—a nearly century‑old span upstream that currently moves roughly $300 million a day in trade.

Legal challenges and political lobbying by Matthew Moroun, a Detroit‑based trucking magnate, originally forced Canada to shoulder the entire cost of the new international bridge after Michigan lawmakers, who share ownership of the Ambassador Bridge, declined to contribute.

In February, after a meeting between Mr. Moroun and Howard Lutnick, the U.S. secretary of commerce, Mr. Trump declared on social media that he would block the bridge’s opening, citing several grievances. The New York Times reported that a month earlier Mr. Moroun had donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Mr. Trump.

A tentative agreement that grants the United States an unspecified share of toll revenue for 15 years was reached this month, paving the way for the bridge’s opening.

The deal is vague on many details. Initially, Canada intended to apply any net toll revenue—after covering operating expenses—to repay its construction costs, estimated to take at least 50 years, after which any profits would be split with Michigan.

Instead, for the first 15 years the United States will receive half of any surplus over operating costs, which it will use for economic development “for the benefit of the United States and trade between Canada and the United States.”

While Mr. Trump praised the agreement, forecasts published by the bridge‑operating authority for Canada and Michigan suggest that the fund will initially generate little or no money for the U.S.

For the current fiscal year, the authority estimates it will collect 35.8 million Canadian dollars while spending 135.6 million on operations, resulting in a loss of nearly 100 million dollars. The following year it projects a 2.9 million loss, followed by a profit (excluding repayment of Canada’s construction costs) of 18 million dollars in 2028.

The United States has not yet announced how it will distribute the money from its fund. On Thursday, Mr. Carney said the government expects the United States to receive about 5 percent of the bridge’s construction cost—roughly 320 million Canadian dollars—over the 15‑year period.

“I genuinely hope that at some point in the future we could close this bridge for a couple of hours and hold the proper celebration it deserves,” said Mr. Dilkens. “That would have to occur when the relationship is a little stronger than it is today.”

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