U.S. will split ‘modest’ Gordie Howe bridge net revenues after debt paid, Carney says

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada and the U.S. will split “modest” net revenues from the Gordie Howe International Bridge only after debts and operational costs are paid.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week the new bridge connecting Ontario to Michigan, which Canada paid to build, will open July 27.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for last month was delayed when the Trump administration sought to renegotiate a long-standing binational agreement on the bridge following pushback from the billionaire family which owns the competing Ambassador Bridge.

Under the new deal, the two countries will split net revenues — Carney would not say if the split is 50-50 — and the U.S. will use its share of the funds for a regional economic development fund.

Carney says the agreement to split revenues will only take effect after tolls are used to repay Canada’s debt for the bridge and to cover operational costs for things like toll booths and snow removal.

Carney also said Canada will benefit from the Trump administration’s planned regional economic development fund because it will increase bridge traffic and profits.

Invitations had already been sent out for an event to celebrate the opening of the $6.4-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit, but a White House source told The Canadian Press that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick intervened.

The bridge project has long faced heavy pushback from members of the billionaire Moroun family, who are longtime Republican donors and owners of the competing Ambassador Bridge. A member of the family reportedly met with Lutnick just before Trump issued a social media post in February threatening to block the bridge’s opening if the United States wasn’t compensated.

House Democrats earlier this year launched an investigation into whether the Morouns took action to obstruct the bridge’s opening.