It was supposed to be a celebration to mark the opening of a new international bridge connecting the US and Canada after eight years of work and several delays.

Canadian and American dignitaries were scheduled to meet for the inauguration of the $4.5 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, which connects the automobile production centers of both countries.

Instead, Canadians held their own solo event on Friday, having disinvited their American counterparts in the wake of Donald Trump's latest tariff threat against their country.

This is just the latest episode in a drama involving a bridge that symbolizes unity between former allies and business partners and is named after a legendary Canadian ice hockey player whose career was spent mostly with the Detroit Red Wings.

Now, the bridge is a reflection of the strained relationship between the two North American neighbors, and the growing pressure on Prime Minister Mark Carney to successfully navigate the troubled waters.

The bridge of discord

Almost 15 years ago, Canada agreed to pay in full for the construction of the bridge to overcome political resistance from the US and launch the project, considered necessary infrastructure to solve a trade bottleneck.

The bridge will help support the passage of more than US$710 million worth of goods that transit the Windsor-Detroit crossing daily.

When Canada first took on the bridge construction project, which will be owned by both Ottawa and Michigan, it agreed to share toll revenue with the U.S. state only once its costs had been paid.

Then, earlier this year, shortly before the planned inauguration ceremony, Trump said he would block its opening until Canada agreed to “share authority” and ownership.

“We should own, perhaps, at least half of this asset,” he said at the time.

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

According to a New York Times report, billionaire Matthew Maroun, who is also a Trump donor, met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before the president's remarks.

Combative Carney

In June, Carney announced that Canada had agreed to the US request to delay the opening of the bridge to allow for new negotiations.

Aiming to reopen this vital trade link, Ottawa has now agreed to share half of the bridge's revenue over the next 15 years with an economic development fund “exclusively controlled” by the US government.

In a recent social media post, Trump touted that the new deal was “MUCH BETTER” for the US.

The fallout from the bridge incident comes against the backdrop of a complex trade dispute between Canada and the US.

During his campaign to be elected prime minister, Carney promised to resolve it with an aggressive strategy, referring to the combative style of hockey coined by Gordie Howe himself.

Now Carney is facing criticism for bowing to a U.S. administration that many Canadians believe is treating their country unfairly.

“We are facing an administration like we have never seen before,” Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and researcher at the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs, told the BBC.

"They break their promises. They don't respect agreements. It's like dealing with pirates."

Criticism of the agreements

Canada has offered a series of concessions to the White House, including eliminating a tax on digital services opposed by American technology companies and eliminating some retaliatory tariffs.

Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar said this whole situation shows that Canada has been negotiating “weakly” in its attempt to achieve a broader trade agreement with Trump.

“Canadians are tired of President Trump using them as a scapegoat and they have the self-respect to fight for their existence and their country,” he declared at a press conference. “They deserve a government willing to do the same.”

Carney is also under scrutiny over the lack of clarity around the new bridge deal and how revenue will be shared with the US.

Last Thursday, he stated that the underlying agreement on the recovery of toll revenue between Canada and the state of Michigan remains in effect.

The new revenue sharing agreement agreed with the White House is “parallel” to that, he said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford praised Carney for “an excellent job in closing this deal.”

Robertson said that while what Carney agreed to is certainly a “concession,” it is necessary given the importance of that stretch to U.S.-Canada trade.

“This new state-of-the-art bridge was built at a very high cost, and yes, we paid for it, but it is necessary to keep supply chains intact,” he said, adding that businesses and communities on both sides of the border have been pushing for it to open.

Some provincial leaders have pushed for Ottawa to take stronger action in trade negotiations.

Prime Minister Ford called Trump a “bully” and said Canada should consider using its energy and critical mineral exports as bargaining chips in trade negotiations.

But others, like Alberta's Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, are urging restraint, highlighting cracks in Canada's unified approach to the US.

It is still unknown how Carney will respond. Robertson noted that while Gordie Howe played with his elbows up, he also often said that “the goal is to get the puck in the goal.”

But Robertson added that he believes Canada has given enough.

“Any additional concessions would be problematic and probably not in our best interest, given the Trump administration's behavior so far,” he said.

This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.