US President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at his neighbour to the north, threatening to block the opening of a new US-Canada bridge amid trade issues, reports Reuters.
The new US$4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge will span the Detroit River, connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which declared it an official port of entry in a rule published 30 January, it will save US$12.7 million annually for travellers by reducing congestion and travel times while easing traffic flow.
The Ambassador Bridge, located just upriver, is the busiest international border crossing in North America, with over 40,000 commuters, tourists and truck drivers carrying US$323 million in goods daily.
Back in 2012, Michigan’s then-Governor Rick Snyder accepted a Canadian government offer to fund most of the new bridge’s costs, taking the unusual step of using executive authority to bypass the legislature. Construction began in 2018 and the bridge is nearing completion.
Canada provided the remaining funding after the US refused to pay for it, and expects the costs will be financed by tolls over 30 years.
[See more: Carney’s Beijing visit signals new phase of Canada–China cooperation]
“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 said on social media on Monday. “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset.”
Trump also complained about Canada’s refusal to stock some US alcoholic beverages, tariffs on dairy products and its trade talks with China, that last spawning perhaps the strangest part of his screed. “China … will eat Canada alive,” he wrote, claiming that “the first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.”
The bizarre tirade comes as Democrats prepare to force a vote in the US House on Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Trump has dramatically increased tariffs on Canada in his second term, threatening last month to impose a 100-percent tariff if Canada followed through on its trade deal with China.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won a landmark victory last year on the strength of his opposition to Trump’s bullying, travelled to Beijing last month to reset strained relations with Canada’s second-largest trade partner after the US.
