US-Canada bridge finally opens after Trump demanded a cut of the tolls

DETROIT, United States (MNTV) — The Gordie Howe International Bridge, a $4.7 billion span linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, will finally open on July 27 after a toll-revenue dispute — driven by President Donald Trump — delayed it by a month.

The bridge was scheduled to open June 27.

It stalled after Trump threatened to block it unless the United States received compensation and a larger role in the project’s returns, arguing the country deserved a share of the economic gains from a span connecting two industrial regions — despite the bridge having been financed by Canada since construction began in 2018.

Trump then announced a revised deal he called more favorable to the United States. Under it, the two countries will share toll governance and transparency measures, the United States will take half of the toll revenue, and Washington will hold approval authority over future toll increases above 10 percent of current rates.

Canada framed the outcome as spreading benefits across both sides of the border and secured a 15-year economic development fund, drawn from bridge profits, for communities along the corridor.

The agreement was negotiated by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

The bridge, named for the Detroit Red Wings legend, is set to become a major commercial route through one of the busiest trade corridors in North America.

That an ally-financed infrastructure project could be held at the threshold until the United States extracted a cut is the more telling part of the story — a marker of how transactional Washington’s dealings with even its closest neighbor have become.