Canadian officials told CBC News this week that the barrier to opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge may lie within broader negotiations rather than the bridge itself.
Evan Solomon, the Canadian federal minister for AI and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, told CBC Friday that there were “complicated” negotiations going on between the U.S. and Canada and that Canada is “deeply engaged on a daily basis with the United States on all issues regarding trade, the [section] 232s, the tariffs, and including the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge.” Solomon said he hopes the bridge — which spans six lanes across 1.5 miles of the Detroit River — will open this spring.
“There’s a lot of factors. The bridge is one factor. Trade. There’s a lot of industries that are being impacted,” Solomon said. “But we are seized with making sure that we get the best deal possible with the United States, and that will include, we hope, the bridge.”
Solomon’s office later clarified his statements to CBC, saying he was speaking broadly about U.S. and Canadian relations and that the exact opening date of the bridge depends on ongoing quality reviews and testing and commissioning activities.
In late April, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said the hold up comes because many of the conditions under which the agreement was made haven’t materialized. The project came in “massively overbudget,” Hoekstra said, and border traffic is down.
Trump threatened to hold hostage the opening of the bridge in February.
“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,” Trump wrote in February. “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY.”
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Gordie Howe Bridge opening tied to broader U.S.-Canada trade talks
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
