Mike Rogers

A deal between the Trump administration and Canada to open the Gordie Howe International Bridge may be announced soon, according to U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers.

The potential deal could give the U.S. up to half of the bridge's toll revenue and a say in the toll structure.

Terms may also include a ban on Chinese-built electric vehicles from crossing into the U.S. via the new bridge.

Canadian officials have not yet confirmed an imminent deal, and there has been no public announcement from the Trump administration.

A deal between the Trump administration and Canadian officials to open the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, may be imminent, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for U.S. Senate, says.

Speaking with Paul W. Smith on WJR-AM 760 on Friday, July 10th, Rogers said he spoke to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a day before and that Lutnick told him "the deal will be announced in the next few days."

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which is overseeing construction of the bridge, didn't have any comment on Rogers' claim, and there has been no similar word from Canadian officials; neither the Commerce Department nor other U.S. officials immediately responded to the Free Press' questions about the report.

Rogers, who has been endorsed by Trump in the race to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, also said that U.S. negotiators have reached a deal where the U.S. government could receive "as much as half" of the toll revenue from the bridge. All of that revenue had been expected, at least initially, to go to Canada to repay it for fronting the costs to build the $4.7 billion (U.S.) bridge.

Rogers said the deal likely would include terms allowing U.S. officials partial say on the toll structure and ensuring that Chinese-built electric vehicles cannot be imported into the U.S. across the new bridge. Canadian officials reached a deal with China previously that allows up to 49,000 Chinese-built EVs to enter the country at a 6.1% tariff. The United States has a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs and some measures in Congress call for banning them altogether.

Rogers is unopposed on the GOP side in the Aug. 4 primary for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat and will face either former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed or U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens depending on who wins the Democratic nomination that same day.

Construction of the bridge, which Canadian officials and business leaders in southeast Michigan have wanted for decades to rival the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, has been underway since 2012, when then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed an agreement saying Canada would pay to build it upfront, with a joint authority owning it.

President Donald Trump, however, threw that agreement in doubt in early 2026 when he said — after Lutnick met with Matthew Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge and a Trump-led committee received a $1 million contribution from Moroun — that he would not allow the bridge to open unless Canada agreed to some unspecified trade demands.

An opening ceremony for the new bridge was set for mid-June but was abruptly cancelled the day before and postponed to an unspecified date. While no specific reason was made public, a source told the Free Press at the time that Canadian officials and others wanted to make sure certain Trump administration officials, including Lutnick, were kept in the loop.

Speaking on a podcast originating in Canada on July 2, Peter Hoekstra, Trump's ambassador to Canada and a former Michigan congressman, confirmed that he and Lutnick were negotiating with Canadian officials.

On the same podcast, Hoekstra said it was a "big myth" that Canada paid for the bridge, arguing that while that country put up the funding, it was tolls paid by travelers, freight haulers and businesses that would ultimately pay for it.

One former Canadian officials likened Hoekstra's comments to "a punch... in the face."

Rogers echoed some of those comments on the Paul W. Smith show July 10.

"Candidly, it was a terrible deal," Rogers said. "We would have seen no revenue. You're going to diminish the one bridge that paid taxes, the Ambassador Bridge, and you're going to have much more traffic on this new bridge for which the United States would get nothing."

Rogers had previously been criticized for not standing up more forcefully to Trump when he suggested the bridge would remain open. Rogers, who had received backing in the past when in Congress from the Moroun family, had supported the president but also said he believed the bridge would open.

"A little bit of time, some tough negotiation, long conversations," Rogers said. "This is how you get things done. We're going to get the bridge open and we’re going to get a much better deal for Michiganders and the United States."