How the Gordie Howe Bridge became a symbol of strained US-Canada relations

About 15 years ago, Canada agreed to fully pay for the bridge’s construction to bypass American political opposition and to make the project seen as essential infrastructure to bridge the trade barrier and move around.

The bridge helps support more than C$1bn ($710m; £530m) worth of goods passing through the Windsor-Detroit crossing each day.

Canada has agreed to share the proceeds with the U.S. state after its costs are covered when it embarks on a construction project for both Ottawa and Michigan.

Then, earlier this year, shortly before a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Trump said he would block the opening until Canada agreed to “power sharing” and ownership.

“We need to own at least one half of this property,” he said at the time.

The bridge has faced pressure from the Morrow family of Michigan, which owns the neighboring Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial border crossing in North America and one of the few privately owned.

Billionaire Trump donor Matthew Maroon met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before the president’s remarks, according to a New York Times report.

In June, Carney announced that Canada had agreed to a U.S. request to delay the opening of the bridge pending further negotiations.

Eager to open up the vital trade link, Ottawa agreed to split half of the bridge’s revenue for the next 15 years through an economic development fund.

In a recent post on social media, Trump said the new deal is “much better” for America.

The bridge’s collapse comes against the backdrop of a tense trade dispute with Canada and the US. While running for prime minister, Carney promised to tackle it with an “elbows up” approach – a reference to the hockey fighting style himself developed by the late Gordie Howe.

Now Carney has backed away from acquiescing to a US administration that many Canadians see as treating their country unfairly.

“We’re dealing with an administration we’ve never seen before,” Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and fellow at the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs, told the BBC.

“They break deals. They don’t follow deals. It’s like dealing with pirates.”