Hey friends,
Earlier today, I posted an interview on our podcast about the upcoming opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, the fact it'll be North America's longest cable-stayed bridge, and tons of other interesting tidbits ahead of an opening sometime in 2026.
That timeline is even more up in the air now. A few hours after I uploaded that episode, the President of the United States posted a long list of grievances to his Truth Social account, threatening to withhold permission to open the bridge.
As someone who's been following this bridge project for nearly a decade, I want to add context and color to what's happening and what was said.
It's also important to get the facts right as there are millions of jobs on both sides impacted by this, as the crossing is responsible for a quarter of all truck trade between the two countries.
Let's walk through line-by-line. I'm writing this about two hours after it posted, and much of this is off the top of my head.
As everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades.
The United States and Canada have worked together in the auto industry for more than six decades. Canada benefits more proportionally because its economy is smaller and so integrated with our consumer demand.
However, the United States has the advantage in total value and strategic control because of our much larger size and corporate footprint.
For instance, there hasn't been a major Canadian automaker in about a century. There is no Ford or GM equivalent over there, currently.
Millions of jobs are now tied to cross‑border supply chains in autos, agriculture, and manufacturing, and the "hurt" of trade disruption falls harder on Canada, an economy that's about 12 times smaller than ours.
Now, things are turning around for the U.S.A., and FAST! But imagine, Canada is building a massive bridge between Ontario and Michigan. They own both the Canada and the United States side and, of course, built it with virtually no U.S. content.
The Canadian government put up almost the entire $6.4 billion (up from an original estimate of $5.7 billion) of the final cost to build the bridge, as to get the deal done Canada needed to pay for it. I'm sure many wouldn't argue that developers and investors paying for a project get to make decisions about it.
President Barack Hussein Obama stupidly gave them a waiver so they could get around the BUY AMERICAN Act, and not use any American products, including our Steel.
The waiver didn't ban American steel. It allowed the use of either Canadian or American iron and steel. The requirement was that all iron and steel come from one of the two countries, not from third parties. As at that time, we were close economic allies.
There isn't a breakdown that I can find, yet, of how much came from each country. It's worth looking into. But I do know thousands of Americans worked on the bridge.
I'll note here the bridge started construction in July 2018 — during the Trump administration — and Trump's administration listed it as a priority infrastructure project in 2017.
In December 2019, Trump himself signed into law the first U.S. funding for the bridge — allocating up to $15 million for customs and border protection.
Now, the Canadian Government expects me, as President of the United States, to PERMIT them to just “take advantage of America!” What does the United States of America get — Absolutely NOTHING! Ontario won’t even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products, on their shelves, they are absolutely prohibited from doing so and now,
This refers to Ontario's recent decision to pull U.S. alcohol products from LCBO shelves in retaliation against Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian imports. The products weren't 'absolutely prohibited.' Ontario chose to remove them in response to the current trade dispute.
on top of everything else, Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We’ll just get the leftovers! I don’t think so.
It turns out Canada is swimming in a global sea of sharks, because their closest ally turned on them and demanded they become the 51st state.
So they — and almost all of our allies at this point — are realizing they're going to have to take their chances in a new world order where they can't trust America. Not that we shouldn't have our own interests, but diplomacy through impulsive tweet isn't a sustainable way to run anything.
Important context Trump didn't mention: News dropped at the end of last week that there are talks about a Chinese automaker building a plant in Canada.
American automakers over the last few years have been overtaken by Toyota and Honda in Canada.
The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha no.
The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk.
This is the part that makes the most sense out of this whole thing, but only partially.
Canada does impose extremely high dairy tariffs — over 200% — but only on imports that exceed quota limits.
Under the USMCA, a trade deal Trump himself negotiated and signed, U.S. dairy products enter Canada duty-free within set quotas. But American exporters have filled only about 42% of those available quotas, leaving more than half unused.
The U.S. also maintains roughly a 2-to-1 dairy trade surplus with Canada, exporting nearly $900 million while importing about $360 million.
I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve. We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset. The revenues generated because of the U.S. Market will be astronomical. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
So we're asking for half of a bridge we didn't pay for. I don't care your political persuasion, just sit with that for a second.
Who knows where this will land in the end. We now live in a country that deals with erratic policy by pronouncement, like that done by an absolute monarch. And much like Greenland, it could all unwind in a few days. Or not. Who knows.
Whether it's this news, or rising costs at the grocery store, to health care expenses skyrocketing, to housing going up, "uncertainty" is the word of the year for most Americans in 2026.
And that's before adding more trade chaos. Especially in Michigan, the state which lost second-most jobs in America (and by far the most in the Midwest) in January.
📬 Only one "ask" tonight. Just sign up for this free all-local newsletter, if you haven't already and keep up on what to know and where to go in Metro Detroit.
🎶 I try and always end these notes with a music track. There's no reason to break tradition, even on a serious evening.
Tonight, I'm going to choose to be hopeful and pick one from one of my favorite bands, Barenaked Ladies.
