The bridge over the Detroit River connects the city of Windsor in the Canadian province of Ontario with the US city of Detroit in the northern state of Michigan. The six-lane bridge, named after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, will also be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. Construction has been underway since 2018 and the opening is planned for this year.
According to its own information, Canada is financing the construction costs amounting to 4.7 billion dollars (3.95 billion euros), which will then be refinanced with toll fees. The long-planned bridge is intended to further boost trade between neighboring countries. Trump wrote that at least half of the bridge should belong to the USA. They want to start negotiations quickly.
Criticism and Carney
The US President accused Canada of having used “almost” no US products such as steel for the construction. In general, Canada must “fully compensate the USA for everything (…) we gave them,” said Trump. He also criticized the limited rapprochement with China on trade issues recently announced by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. That’s why he recently threatened the neighboring country with a 100 percent tariff on imported goods.
“Strategic partnership” with China
Carney announced a “new strategic partnership” with China during a visit to Beijing in mid-January and announced an agreement for a trade agreement. As part of this, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on rapeseed imports from Canada from the current 84 percent to around 15 percent by March 1st. China also wants to allow visitors from Canada to enter the country without a visa.
In return, Canada is to import 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at new preferential tariffs of 6.1 percent. Trump, in turn, threatened Canada with punitive tariffs on imports of Canadian aircraft. Trump often resorts to tariffs to get his way. Sometimes he only uses tariffs as a threatening gesture and ultimately does not implement them.
Powerful speech in Davos
After the trip to China, Canada’s Prime Minister Carney gave a highly regarded and powerful speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which was also understood as a criticism of Trump and his aggressive “America First” policy. The US President had spoken several times about Canada being integrated into the US as a federal state.
The USA is by far Canada’s most important trading partner – the two countries are traditionally considered close allies. US sector tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum are hitting the Canadian economy hard. Nevertheless, more than 85 percent of the two countries’ bilateral trade has so far remained unaffected by the trade conflict.
date: 2026-02-10 11:35:00