The White House is reportedly blocking the opening of a new international crossing, bridging transit gaps and expanding trade between the state of Michigan and Canada.
The proposed delay threatens to stall the long-planned opening of the nearly $5 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, a publicly owned span between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit that is nearing completion and awaiting final federal clearances. Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently designated the bridge an official port of entry effective March 2, President Donald Trump has said the crossing should not open unless the United States secures a greater ownership stake and operational authority.
In statements made last week by federal officials and Trump, the White House is vowing to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge until the United States can own half of the bridge, share authority of what passes through the border and benefit from the economic perks of the crossing. The decision to delay the bridge’s opening came as a “shock” to local, state and Canadian officials responsible for the project.
Project teams began construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge in 2018, after being fast tracked in 2017 by the White House during Trump’s first term. Development of the bridge was paid for in full by the government of Canada, who initially sought to reclaim these funds through tolls.
The bridge is designed to reduce traffic on the nearby Ambassador Bridge, a privately owned structure that benefits from commercial truck traffic and maintains one of the few international connections in the region.
Advocates for the bridge, including state elected officials, local organizations and public stakeholders, iterate that the Gordie Howe bridge is vital to trade and interconnectivity between Michigan businesses, communities and workers. A letter, submitted last week by two U.S. Senators and six U.S. Representatives from Michigan, has been sent to the White House reinforcing the importance of the bridge and the effects of its delayed opening.
While a bipartisan group of lawmakers and elected officials are vying for the bridge, several state officials involved in the project are confident in the bridge’s timing opening, despite setbacks. Officials say that there are few actions the president could legally take to delay the opening, most prominently, refusing to authorize staffing for the bridge with border patrol, customs and federal law enforcement. Though, an agreement from 2020 between the U.S. General Services Administration and the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority of Canada claims that the United States will operate Customs and Border Protection teams for the bridge.
Trump and Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney held a phone call earlier this month discussing the Gordie Howe bridge project. According to reports, Carney emphasized the existing agreement between Canada and the state of Michigan, citing the United States’ current ownership stake as an already agreed upon component of the project.
This story is developing as Michigan and Canadian officials negotiate with the White House on the opening of the bridge. Michigan officials are also introducing legislation in the state legislature to prohibit the president from delaying the bridge’s opening unless approved by Congress or requested by the governor, though this is currently a proposal.
Photo by AHeneen, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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