WINDSOR, Ontario — Canadian officials inaugurated the new Gordie Howe International Bridge on Friday, delivering a critical trade artery across the Detroit River even as a sharp tariff escalation kept all American representatives away from the event.
The six-lane crossing opens to commercial and passenger traffic Monday, ending a near-century monopoly held by the privately owned Ambassador Bridge. The Detroit-Windsor corridor is the top port for U.S.-Canada truck freight, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data, handling more than a quarter of all surface trade between the nations.
Tariff Impact Keeps U.S. Seats Empty
A planned joint ceremony was scrapped by Ottawa after President Donald Trump announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. The U.S. national anthem was not performed. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens called the timing “regretful,” telling a Detroit television station, “We’re hopeful for better days ahead.” Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield acknowledged the bridge’s economic significance but declined to address whether it had become a “political football” in the cross-border dispute.
More than 70% of Canadian exports flow to the United States, and American workers across the industrial Midwest depend on those supply chains. The sudden tariff spike injects uncertainty into freight volumes just as the region gains a second high-capacity crossing.
Who Pays — and Who Gets Paid
Canada shouldered the $6.4 billion construction cost. Under a recent revenue agreement, Ottawa will share toll receipts with the U.S. government for 15 years, while Michigan’s government receives a cut only after Canada recovers its full investment — a timeline measured in decades. Federal cost estimates indicate the project secured fixed-price contracts for 80% of the work, a structure that shielded taxpayers from overruns during pandemic-era delays that stretched construction to seven years.
Pedestrian and bicycle access with proper identification will open free of charge in several weeks. The bridge stands 151 feet above the river and spans 1.5 miles. It is named for the late hockey legend who played for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
The tariff feud underscores a persistent American vulnerability: while Can ada financed the bridge, the U.S. economy remains captive to cross-border trade routes it did not build and does not control. For American workers in automotive and industrial sectors reliant on just-in-time deliveries, any disruption at the Detroit crossing translates directly to assembly-line downtime and lost wages.