Canadian PM Mark Carney says he spoke with US President Donald Trump and will resolve a row over ownership of a new international bridge.
OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said a diplomatic row with the United States over a new international bridge would be resolved.
Carney told reporters he spoke with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday following Trump’s threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“I explained that Canada, of course, paid for the construction of the bridge; that the ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada,” Carney said.
He added that he told Trump US steel and workers were involved in the project.
Trump had claimed late Monday that the United States should own “at least half” of the under-construction bridge linking Ontario with Michigan.
He threatened to block its opening in a social media post, alleging Canada used “virtually” no US products to build it.
The White House said the president’s stance was “just another example of President Trump putting America’s interests first”.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “made that very clear in his call with prime minister Carney”.
“The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president,” Leavitt told a briefing.
The USD 4.7 billion bridge, named for late hockey legend Gordie Howe, began construction in 2018 and is due to open this year.
It was conceived as a symbol of unity between the two nations.
Trump also made an unsubstantiated claim in his post that a potential Canada-China trade deal would lead Beijing to “terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada”.
He said China would “permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup” without explaining how.
Carney did not comment on that particular assertion.
