Gordie Howe International Bridge to open after delay: sources

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is set to open this month after a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June was delayed as the Trump administration looked to renegotiate a long-standing agreement between Canada and the U.S.

Sources with knowledge of negotiations, who were not authorized to speak publicly about them, told The Canadian Press Friday the bridge will open before the end of July.

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers posted on social media Friday that he spoke with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the bridge will open soon.

“A new deal is coming in the next few days,” Rogers said. “The Secretary assures me that America will get a better financial deal and that there will be no Chinese cars pouring over that bridge.”

In a radio interview included with his social media post, Rogers said there is a “financial deal” where the U.S. will see “up to half the revenue.” He also said there would be joint determination of what the tolls would be.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, when asked if he’d be open to renegotiate the terms to open the bridge, said Thursday that “I think we’re willing to clarify aspects of the current arrangements.”

No details about the deal were provided by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday but in an emailed statement she said “the Gordie Howe International Bridge has always been a great deal for our state.”

Whitmer said thousands of Michigan workers helped build the bridge, adding it “will speed up auto production, lower costs, ease traffic, strengthen agriculture, and give people on both sides of the border better-paying jobs and brighter futures.”

“I’m proud to have fought for its opening and congratulate my partners who have worked on this issue alongside me for years,” Whitmer said.

Invitations had already been sent out for a ribbon-cutting event that was set to take place June 12 to celebrate the opening of the $6.4-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit, but a White House source told The Canadian Press that Lutnick intervened.

The administration official said that while Whitmer spoke with the White House about the bridge, the governor was not given a green light for it to open.

The interim chief executive of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said at the time that Canada and the U.S. agreed to delay the opening as the two countries attempt to “resolve any outstanding issues.” Carney later said it was at the request of the United States.

Ottawa signed the 2012 bridge deal with former governor Rick Snyder, a Republican. Canada agreed to shoulder the cost of construction and to recoup its investment through tolls, after which the money would be split with the state.

The bridge’s ownership is shared between Michigan and the Government of Canada.

Trump himself endorsed the bridge project during his first term.

But the Gordie Howe bridge project has long faced heavy pushback from members of the billionaire Moroun family, who are longtime Republican donors and owners of the competing Ambassador Bridge.

The New York Times reported that Matthew Moroun met with Lutnick just before U.S. President Donald Trump issued a social media post in February threatening to block the bridge’s opening if the United States wasn’t compensated.

House Democrats earlier this year launched an investigation into whether the Morouns took action to obstruct the bridge’s opening.

The probe calls for Lutnick and Moroun to hand over documents related to their meeting and other communications with the White House about the bridge, among other things.

Lutnick and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra were leading negotiations around the bridge following the abrupt delay in June.

In the weeks since, Hoekstra has made numerous comments to Canadian media claiming that the idea that Canada paid for the bridge is a myth. He has also said blocking the bridge is not linked to the Moroun family, claiming there are legitimate issues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2026.

By Kelly Geraldine Malone