Canada soberly inaugurated, alone, on Friday, the new border bridge with the United States after the cancellation of the joint ceremony due to Monday’s announcement of new American customs duties on several Canadian products.
• Also read: Gordie Howe Bridge: “The symbol of the inability of the two administrations to work together,” says Philippe Léger
“This bridge is a testament to what we can build when we work together,” said Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson at the foot of the facility, which is scheduled to open to traffic on July 27.
“Canada has withdrawn the invitation from the United States for the ceremony, but that does not matter, since they pay significant CUSTOMS DUTIES,” Donald Trump said on Friday in a publication on his Truth Social network.
This ceremony, held in front of an audience of Canadian guests, comes at the end of a week of tensions between Canada and the United States.
After the announcement of the new US customs duties on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “looking at all options” regarding a possible response to these tariff threats.
It was also the subject of strong criticism during the week, notably from the conservative opposition, after the publication on Tuesday of the proposal for an agreement in principle relating to the bridge, considered very favorable to the American side.
Its terms stipulate in particular that Canada must make payments equivalent to 50% of the net revenues generated by the bridge for a period of 15 years.
“We changed the terms of the agreement” in this sense, Donald Trump said on Friday.
“It’s a good agreement,” defended Mark Carney to the press on Thursday, stressing that the initial agreement concluded in 2012, according to which there would be no sharing of toll revenues before the repayment of the Canadian debt, “remained in force”.
The financial management of the bridge had already been at the heart of Canadian-American turmoil when Donald Trump ruled in February that the United States should own “at least half” of it. Full financing of the work was covered by Canada.
The inauguration of this bridge, named Gordie Howe after the Canadian ice hockey legend, had been threatened several times since the beginning of the year before finally being confirmed on July 11.
Approximately 2.5 km long, this bridge connecting the city of Windsor (Ontario) to that of Detroit (Michigan) had been under construction since 2018 for a total cost of 6.4 billion Canadian dollars (around 4 billion euros).
