Gordie Howe International Bridge to open after delay: AP sources

The Gordie Howe Bridge is shown under construction between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is set to open in July, sources tell The Associated Press, weeks after a ribbon-cutting ceremony was delayed amid Canada-U.S. tensions.

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers posted on social media that he spoke with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Friday 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.”

Invitations had already been sent out for a ribbon cutting event that was supposed to take place June 12 but a White House source told The Canadian Press that Lutnick intervened.

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.”

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.”

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.

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

By Kelly Geraldine Malone