Canada paid for the Gordie Howe bridge but U.S. Senate hopeful says it ‘was not a great deal for us’

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Nov. 5, 2024 in Novi, Michigan. Photo by Sarah Rice /Getty Images

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The still-shuttered Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit is continuing to serve as a flashpoint in the U.S. elections, with a Republican Senatorial candidate saying only he can get the bridge to open, while also claiming “it was not a great deal for us” and that “we’ll never see any revenue from that thing.”

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Mike Rogers is making a run for U.S. Senate in the 2026 election. A former FBI agent, he served in the Michigan State Senate from 1995 to 2001 and then spent 14 years as a Congressman for the state. A victory this year would make him the first Republican to capture a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan since 1994.

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In a question-and-answer session with the Detroit News, the paper asked about a campaign video he had made saying that he could open the bridge: “What would you do to make this happen?

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Rogers’ answer: “You need to elect Mike Rogers to the Senate. I’ll get it open.”

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He continued: “Out of the two senators we have there (in Washington), nobody can go and have a conversation with the White House because all they do is poke him (Donald Trump) in the eye. He’s going to be there for two years. This is an opportunity to send somebody back that understands what’s at risk.”

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In a campaign ad posted to social media, he says while standing in front of the bridge: “Gordie was known as one of the toughest guys in hockey. And we need to be as tough at stopping Chinese cars coming over that bridge as Gordie Howe was on the ice.”

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He goes on to talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs in Michigan, concluding: “Send me to Washington. I’ll get this bridge open, I’ll protect our auto jobs, and guess what, Michigan? We’re gong to have a growing Michigan manufacturing.”

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The Gordie Howe International Bridge shown from Windsor, Ontario in June 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /WIndsor Star

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He told Detroit News: “When Canada was trying to allow a huge number of Chinese cars to be brought into Canada, they took the tariffs from 100 per cent down to 6 per cent, and I think they’ve upped their quota to 70,000 on all 100 per cent Chinese-made cars to be able to be brought into Canada.”

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Canada’s annual quota of Chinese-made electric vehicles is in fact 49,000 at a tariff rate of 6.1% per cent but the plan is for that cap to reach 70,000 over five years.

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Rogers continued: “My argument was, let’s use the bridge opening as an opportunity to stop Canada from hurting American automobile workers.”

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That said, Rogers told a Detroit radio station this week that the critical span between Detroit and Windsor should remain closed for up to another six months if Canada does not acquiesce to Trump’s demands.

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“If we have this bridge open two months, three months, six months later, and we win a significant concession from Canada about these Chinese cars, that’s significant for auto workers right here in the state in keeping their jobs. That’s worth having a little scuffle over.”

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He concluded: “It is no money out of our pocket having that bridge closed for another six months.”

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The seeming contradiction in timing was enough for Detroit Metro Times to run its coverage under the headline: “Mike Rogers wants the Gordie Howe bridge open except when he doesn’t.”

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In his Q&A with Detroit News, Rogers also said of the bridge: “It was not a great deal for us. We’ll never see any revenue from that thing, from what people around the bridge tell me, for a long time. One hundred years, someone told me. Well, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s breathtaking, that part.”