American President Donald Trump’s proposal to postpone the launch of the almost finished Gordie Howe International Bridge has been vehemently resisted by Canadian political and corporate leaders.
Canadian media outlets reported this on Tuesday.
The bridge will be the third crossing at the Windsor-Detroit gateway, connecting Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, Michigan.
The corridor is a vital route for the North American automobile industry and contributes around 25% of all trade between Canada and the United States.
Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, criticized Trump’s comments for ignoring the two nations’ common economic interests.
It’s simply crazy. I can’t believe what I’m reading when I read that post,” Dilkens remarked.
“It’s just one more obstacle that Donald Trump has placed in the way of accomplishing positive things for both his and our nation.”
In response to Trump’s assertion that no American goods were utilized in the bridge’s construction, Dilkens stated that the American portion of the project employed steel that was produced in the United States.
Business executives also spoke about the financial repercussions of preventing the bridge from operating.
Such an action would be detrimental, according to Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“Blocking or barricading bridges is a self-defeating move, regardless of whether this turns out to be true or just a threat to maintain ambiguity.
“Building bridges, not tearing down established trade corridors, is the way forward,” Laing said in a statement.
The Canadian federal government is the main source of funding for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, having contributed 6.4 billion Canadian dollars (about 4.7 billion US dollars) to the project.
After the investment is fully recovered, Canada intends to split the future toll income with the state of Michigan in order to recover the cost.
On his social media account earlier Monday, Trump had bemoaned Canada’s “unfair” treatment of the United States in trade disputes.
He maintained that the United States ought to own “at least one half” of the bridge and threatened to prevent it from opening until payment was made.
The remarks represent a significant shift from Trump’s stance during his first term, when he called the bridge a “vital economic link between our two countries” in 2017.
(NAN/Xinhua)
