Gary Peters

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Gary Peters, D-MI, and Elissa Slotkin, D-MI, along with six U.S. Representatives from Michigan reiterated the importance of opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge as scheduled this year in a letter to President Donald Trump.

The letter comes after President Trump threatened to stop the opening of the new United States-Canadian border crossing between Detroit and Windsor. The Michigan delegation members outlined how the new bridge will be a significant economic driver for Michigan and the entire country.

“This critical conduit of international commerce will bring jobs to the United States and support our long-standing relationship with Canada. Your recent comments put those benefits and years of bipartisan work towards the opening of the bridge in jeopardy,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter underscored the critical trade partnership between the United States and Canada, where initial figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show more than $660 billion in goods were traded across the border in 2025. The lawmakers highlighted how the relationship is particularly significant to Michigan businesses and workers.

“No state better embodies this relationship than Michigan, where -for the first eleven months of 2025 – our state imported nearly $40 billion in Canadian goods while exporting more than $19 billion in goods to Canada, continuing a multi-decade trend in which Michigan has been one of the top two states for exports to and imports from Canada,” the lawmakers continued. “With the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge allowing more capacity for trade flow, it is not far-fetched to suggest that those figures will only increase, cementing Michigan as the most economically significant state to the trade relationship between the United States and Canada.”

The lawmakers also expressed their “shock” at President Trump’s comments given his previous record of support for the project dating back to his first administration.

“In 2020, during your first term, the U.S. General Services Administration negotiated and entered into an agreement with Canada’s Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority for the facilities that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will operate from at the bridge. And just weeks ago, on January 30, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a rule formally establishing the Gordie Howe International Bridge as a port of entry for both immigration and customs purposes and describing the importance of the project,” the lawmakers wrote. “Not only have you seemingly approved of this project, but you have also taken every step to ensure its success and operation.”

The lawmakers concluded by reiterating their willingness to work with the administration to maintain a strong US-Canada trade relationship, but that it cannot come at the cost of the safe, timely opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

“As members of Congress from Michigan, we understand and share your desire to reduce offshoring of U.S. businesses while increasing the supply of good-paying American jobs. For our state, these opportunities are our lifeblood and have supported generations of Michiganders. Often times, our unique and highly integrated relationship with Canada has contributed to that economic development,” the letter concluded. “We implore you to work with the Canadian government, including Prime Minister Carney, to address our ongoing trade relationship as a separate issue, for which we stand ready to assist. But as these discussions move forward, it is essential that the Gordie Howe International Bride open as planned later this year.”

Trump threatened to block the bridge from opening this year, unless Canada “fully compensates” the United States “for everything we’ve given them” and turns over at least half of the bridge’s ownership.

“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 on Truth Social. “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset.”