By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – A new $4.7 billion bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, which President Donald Trump threatened to block, is set to open soon after the U.S. and Canada reached a deal on toll revenue for the crossing, a Michigan Republican U.S. Senate candidate said on Friday.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge had been set to open in early June. In February, Trump cited financial concerns and threatened to block the bridge named after the legendary Detroit Red Wings hockey player.
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said Friday on WJR radio that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told him the administration reached a deal that will be announced in the coming days to allow the bridge to open soon.
Rogers said the U.S. “went from getting no revenue” to getting significant revenue. “We’re going to get the bridge open and we’re going to get a much better deal,” Rogers said.
A source confirmed a deal had been reached and that the U.S. will get 50% of toll revenue and will be able to veto any toll hike that is 10% over the current tolls. Lutnick struck a deal after talks in recent weeks with Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister in charge of U.S. trade, the source added.
A separate source told Reuters the bridge is set to open by the end of the month.
The bridge has become an issue in the Michigan Senate race as Trump’s Republicans campaign to hold their slim majority in that branch of U.S. Congress.
The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
A formal ribbon-cutting had been planned for early June.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last month Canada agreed to delay the opening at the request of the Trump administration.
In February, Trump cited Canada’s refusal to stock some U.S. alcoholic beverages on Canadian store shelves, Canada’s tariffs on dairy products and its trade talks with China as grounds for why he might not allow the bridge to open.
Matthew Moroun, owner of the rival Ambassador Bridge that connects Detroit and Windsor, in February met with Lutnick and weeks earlier had donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned political action committee.
Construction of the bridge, which began in 2018, was financed by Canada because the U.S. refused to pay for it. The costs were to be covered by tolls over 30 years and it is not immediately clear how the split in revenue impacts the repayment schedule.
The new bridge will help ease truck traffic on the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, the largest freight port on the U.S.-Canada border, which handled $126 billion of value traded by commercial trucks as of 2023.
It will cut 20 minutes off the crossing time, saving truckers $2.3 billion over 30 years, according to a University of Windsor study.
Trump has made a number of threats against Canada in his second term and drastically hiked tariffs on the U.S. northern neighbor. Last month, Trump said he might not renew a free trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Maria Cheng Editing by Alistair Bell and David Gregorio)
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