Plans for celebrating the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which links Ontario and Michigan, have been altered to exclude U.S. officials, according to multiple reports, including from The Detroit News.

On July 21, Canadian leaders told Michigan officials they planned to cancel a joint U.S.-Canada event —  initially planned for July 24 —  to celebrate the opening of the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge over the Detroit River, after President Donald Trump announced new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, including dairy, alcohol and hockey sticks.

"The July 24, 2026, event for the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been cancelled," according to an email sent late on July 21 from the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority to one U.S. elected official, reports The Detroit News. "We appreciate your interest. We regret any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding."

The scuttling of a two-nation event celebrating the new Detroit River span is not expected to interrupt the oft-delayed planned opening of the bridge. The Canadian Bridge Authority’s website slates the celebration of the opening on the Windsor side of the 1.5-mile span as July 24, with the actual opening scheduled for July 27. The bridge was initially scheduled to open for traffic on June 15, but that was postponed while President Donald Trump insisted on getting a better deal regarding revenue-sharing between the two nations. Canada's infrastructure ministry in a statement said it remains "committed" to the July 27 opening.

“In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event between the two countries,” the Office of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure said in a statement, reported by m.live.com. “The Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement and the recently negotiated parallel Agreement in Principle between Canada and the United States remain unchanged.”

A request from SupplyChainBrain to Canada's Office of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure to confirm the changed arrangements, and the reason for them, was not immediately answered.

Even before this latest salvo in the U.S.-Canada trade war, relations between the U.S. and its second largest trading partner have frayed greatly during the second Trump administration. The fracas over the bridge has become a glaring symbol of that rift. In February, Trump posted on Truth Social that that he wouldn’t allow the bridge, which Canada paid for, to open until the U.S. was “fully compensated for everything we have given” Canada, “and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.”

On July 21, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced he had agreed with Trump to “intensify negotiations in the coming weeks.”