Canada marked the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Friday with a quiet, Canadian-only ceremony following a dispute over revenue sharing and renewed tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Canadian officials canceled a joint cross-border ribbon-cutting event for the $4.7 billion structure connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. The bridge is set to open to public traffic on Monday.
The scaled-back event comes amid heightened tension between the two trading partners. On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social regarding the project’s opening and financial terms.
“Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is fine, considering they are paying substantial TARIFFS to the United States, but the original Deal on the Bridge, which was terribly negotiated by a previous Administration, no longer stands,” Trump wrote. “We changed the terms of the Deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the Profit. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The project, named after the Canadian-born Detroit Red Wings player, broke ground in 2018 and was fully funded by Canada. It was designed to relieve congestion on the nearby Ambassador Bridge. In February, Trump threatened to block its opening, citing Canadian dairy tariffs, state-level restrictions on U.S. alcohol sales, and Canadian trade relations with China.
Disagreements remain regarding how and when border revenues will be divided. Earlier this month, Trump stated he had secured significant revenues for the U.S. in exchange for allowing the bridge to open. White House spokesman Kush Desai reiterated on Thursday that Trump “renegotiated an incredible deal for America on the Gordie Howe Bridge,” though Desai did not clarify when the U.S. would begin receiving payments.
A draft agreement released Wednesday indicates that Canada will split net crossing revenues equally with the U.S. for the first 15 years, without explicit language guaranteeing Canada is reimbursed first for construction costs.
However, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney disputed that interpretation during a press briefing Thursday. Carney stated that an earlier arrangement with the state of Michigan remains active and that “there’s no splitting of tolls under that agreement until all of the debt is repaid.”
Neither government has released public revenue projections for the crossing.
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