The new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, will finally open later this month.

Just hours after a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan reported that a deal to open the long-awaited bridge was close to being finalized, Canada and the state of Michigan released a joint statement saying it would open July 27 “with the support of the United States government.”

Neither the specific terms of any deal nor trade concessions were included in the joint statement. But it said the United States and Canada have “agreed to a series of cooperative measures focused on toll governance and transparency, as well as investments in the region including through the establishment of a 15-year economic development fund tied to a portion of profits from bridge operations.”

�¾��Ի���ǰ�-�ٱ�ٰ��Ǿ������������岵�������ܳٳ�ǰ����ٲ� (WDBA), the Canadian-chartered corporation that oversees bridge operations, will work with U.S. officials “on toll-rate adjustments, seeking concurrence for certain non-market related toll changes,” according to the statement.

Earlier on Friday, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is certain to be the Republican nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan this fall, told Paul W. Smith during a radio interview that he’d spoken a day earlier to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and that a deal was imminent.

Rogers said the United States could receive as much as half of the new bridge’s toll revenues, all of which had been designated to go to Canada until it recouped the $4.7 billion (U.S.) cost to build it. Canada agreed with Michigan in 2012, in a deal approved by the U.S., that it would put up the money for building the bridge to be paid back with toll revenues before they would be split.

Rogers also said the deal was expected to include terms excluding Chinese-made electric vehicles from entering the United States via the bridge. Canada has signed a deal with China to allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter Canada each year and pay a 6.1 percent tariff. The U.S. has a 100 percent tariff on Chinese EV imports.

None of those details were included in the joint statement.

“Thousands of Michigan workers built this critical bridge, which 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 future,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stated. “I’m proud to have fought for its opening and congratulate my partners who have worked on this issue alongside me for years.

“This bridge is a testament to the enduring partnership between Michigan and Canada and what we can get done when we think big and bet on our shared future together. Thank you to our allies in Canada and to the Michiganders who advocated for years to get this done. Let’s keep working together to build a bright future for Michigan and Canada.”

Gregor Robertson, Canada’s minister of housing and infrastructure, stated separately, “After years of planning, partnership and construction, the Gordie Howe International Bridge will soon be opening – providing a new connection for the region, while strengthening one of the world’s most important trade corridors.

“This nation-building project is a testament to what Canada can accomplish when we come together with a shared vision. Our gratitude goes to all the staff, workers, partners, and community members who were involved. The Gordie Howe International Bridge will create new opportunities, strengthen our economy, and bring economic benefits on both sides of border for generations to come.”

For decades, Canadian officials and business leaders in southeast Michigan have sought a span to rival or replace the privately owned Ambassador Bridge along the Detroit-Windsor corridor, which is the busiest along the United States’ northern border. It only became a reality, however, in the years after the Great Recession − and over the objections of the Moroun family that owns the Ambassador Bridge − when then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed an agreement with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2012.

Then-President Barack Obama’s administration signed the permit for the cross-border bridge, giving its approval to the agreement that provided for Canada to pay for the bridge construction upfront and tolls to be collected in either direction on the Canadian side of the bridge. The Canadian government, through WDBA, played the key role in obtaining property on both sides of the border for the bridge.

President Donald Trump, however, threw that agreement in doubt in early 2026 when he said — after Lutnick met with Matthew Moroun, who inherited the ownership of the Ambassador Bridge from his father, Manuel “Matty” Moroun, and a Trump-led committee received a $1 million contribution from the family — that he would not allow the bridge to open unless Canada agreed to some unspecified trade demands.

An opening ceremony for the new bridge was set for mid-June but was abruptly canceled the day before and postponed until an unspecified date. While no specific reason was made public, a source told the Detroit Free Press at the time that Canadian officials and others wanted to make sure Trump administration officials, including Lutnick, were kept in the loop.

Speaking on a podcast originating in Canada on July 2, Peter Hoekstra, Trump’s ambassador to Canada and a former Michigan congressman, confirmed that he and Lutnick were negotiating with Canadian officials.

On the same podcast, Hoekstra said it was a “big myth” that Canada paid for the bridge, arguing that while that country put up the funding, it was tolls paid by travelers, freight haulers and businesses that would ultimately pay for it.

One former Canadian official likened Hoekstra’s comments to “a punch … in the face.”

Rogers echoed some of those comments on the Paul W. Smith show July 10, saying, “Candidly, it was a terrible deal,” given that the U.S. wouldn’t receive revenue. “You’re going to diminish the one bridge that paid taxes, the Ambassador Bridge, and you’re going to have much more traffic on this new bridge for which the United States would get nothing.”

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Detroit Free Press and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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