The collapse in American-Canadian relations since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House is usually measured by tariffs, trade agreements, and diplomatic insults. But the real cost is being paid in border towns.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Michigan, where deteriorating relations between Washington and Ottawa are hurting communities.
Most headlines have focused on Trump’s proposal to make Canada the 51st state — an idea rooted in history but dismissed by virtually everyone as politically fanciful — along with tariffs, the demise of his own U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the delayed opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor.
Largely ignored is the impact in Sault Ste. Marie. Or rather, the twin Saults.
Separated by the St. Mary’s River, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, dates to 1688, making the Sault (pronounced like sue) the oldest European settlement in Michigan and the oldest in Ontario. It was founded 13 years before Detroit and 61 years before French farms appeared at Windsor to provision a fort in Detroit.
Until recently, the river has divided countries and governments without fully dividing the community.
The same Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority data show just how quickly that relationship is fraying.
Automobile traffic across the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge fell 29.1% in 2025. Through the first half of this year, traffic has remained stagnant while commercial truck crossings declined by another 14.7%. Even more striking is who is paying the tolls. Before the pandemic, roughly 80% came from Canadians and 20% from Americans. Today, the ratio has flipped to approximately 60% American and 40% Canadian.
Those numbers matter beyond the businesses losing customers. The 64-year-old, 2.8-mile-long bridge depends on toll revenue for its maintenance. Fewer crossings mean fewer dollars available to preserve a critical piece of transborder infrastructure.
Of course, this is hardly the first period of tension.
Although American independence was secured in 1783, British troops continued occupying Michigan until 1796. Their presence contributed to the War of 1812. While that conflict ended in a draw, it permanently secured American independence while helping forge an emerging Canadian identity.
Later came the Fenian raids, when Irish nationalists launched attacks into Canada from the U.S. side of the border. During the Civil War, there was also concern that British North America might join the South. Even after the British provinces united into modern Canada in 1867, the Canadian economy remained oriented toward Britain until the interwar period.
Canada increasingly reoriented its economy southward. This culminated with the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s.
It wasn’t just trade that flourished.
Americans crossed into Ontario for restaurants, entertainment, and shopping, particularly when exchange rates heavily favored the U.S. dollar and Canadian taxes could be refunded. Canadians traveled to Michigan for cheaper gas, broader retail options, and flights.
It is often said that Canada needs the United States more than the U.S. needs Canada. That may be true nationally. It is far less true along the border.
Ontario remains Michigan’s largest trading partner. According to the Detroit Regional Chamber, about 6,000 Canadians, including nearly 1,500 nurses and other healthcare workers, commuted daily from Windsor to jobs in the Detroit area in 2025. Meanwhile, 54% of Canadians who owned second homes in the Sun Belt were considering selling them, UPI reported.
The same bridge authority shows that the average Canadian visitor to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, spends $146 on a day trip and $1,506 on an overnight stay. When bridge crossings decline by nearly one-third, millions of dollars no longer flow to hotels, restaurants, and retailers. That is a significant loss for a city of 13,337 residents.
The deterioration is visible on the Canadian side as well.
Restaurants are caught up in a geopolitical dispute. A customer at the View Bar inside the Delta, which is part of the U.S.-based Marriott chain, who wants a bourbon, is out of luck because Ontario has banned Kentucky’s signature drink and other American alcohol. Canadian whisky and wine now fill menus and occupy store shelves.
TRUMP WON’T RENEW TRADE DEAL WITH MEXICO AND CANADA. HE WOULD BE FOOLISH NOT TO EXTEND IT
The million-dollar question is whether this is merely a bump in the road that will pass as the politics of both countries ebb and flow or whether it marks the beginning of a new normal.
Michigan and Ontario spent decades building one of the world’s most integrated cross-border economies. The bridges connecting them are made of steel. The relationships they were built to serve are far more fragile.
Dennis Lennox is a political commentator and public affairs consultant. Follow @dennislennox on X.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
