From my work desk, I look south across the Detroit River, and I can see Canada. Living in an American border town, I see opportunity and growth, but Team Trump sees fears and acts petulantly. We are witnessing one of the most consequential economic policy mistakes unfolding in real time.
President Trump's threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge—a $6.4 billion, "once-in-a-generation" infrastructure investment built to ease cargo flow between the United States and Canada- isn't just rhetoric. It's a window into how Team Trump's tariff strategy is systematically dismantling the competitive advantages that have made North American manufacturing viable in a globally contested economy.
Let's be clear about what's happening: A sitting US President is threatening to prevent the opening of infrastructure that the Canadian government financed, that US workers helped construct, that incorporates US steel, and that Michigan jointly owns.
The stated rationale? America needs Canada to ensure the US is "fully compensated" and treated with proper "respect." This rationale isn't policy. This is economic theater at the expense of real businesses operating in one of the world's most economically integrated regions. Trump repeatedly does what makes sense for special-interest politics, but rarely what makes sense for broader American economic interests.
The Global Great Lakes
The Detroit-Windsor corridor, which connects the state of Michigan and the province of Ontario, represents something exceptional in the North American economy.
The broader Great Lakes region generates between $6 trillion and $9.3 trillion in annual GDP, supporting 107 million residents and 51 million jobs across eight US states and two Canadian provinces.
If the Global Great Lakes region were an independent nation, it would rank as the world's third-largest economy. That's not hyperbole.
The supply chain architecture spanning this border wasn't built overnight or by accident. It evolved over decades of bilateral investment, technical integration, and mutual advantage. The automotive sector alone depends on seamless parts flow across the Ambassador Bridge daily - the span moves roughly $300 million in daily cross-border trade, yeah, daily.
Manufacturing facilities on both sides of the border are designed as integrated operations rather than isolated entities. This isn't just interdependence; it's engineered efficiency.
The Gordie Howe Bridge is needed to support this economic juggernaut because the existing infrastructure has reached capacity limits. By all accounts, the opening of the Gordie Howe bridge will reduce congestion, lower logistics costs, improve competitiveness, and generate economic growth across both countries. Blocking it doesn't strengthen American economic security. It thwarts it.
The tariff escalation trap
Trump's bridge threat doesn't exist in isolation. It's part of a broader tariff escalation campaign. Team Trump's worldview has profound implications for how American businesses must restructure their operations and government engagement strategies.
Here's what the data tells us: Trade partners don't absorb tariffs passively. History demonstrates this with remarkable consistency. When one nation implements protectionist measures, others respond with countermeasures. This creates cascading economic effects that extend far beyond the initial policy announcement. We've seen this pattern repeat across multiple administrations and decades. The promised protection becomes economic friction.
For executives across Fortune 1,000 companies—particularly those in manufacturing, agriculture, automotive, and advanced industrial sectors—the bridge dispute signals a broader reality: The administration's negotiating style prioritizes political leverage over economic outcomes. That distinction matters enormously for strategic planning.
What this means in practice:
Supply chain vulnerability: Companies that optimized their North American supply chains around frictionless border crossing now face existential uncertainty. Just-in-time manufacturing—the competitive standard for decades—becomes riskier by the day. Tariffs increase component costs. Bridge delays increase logistics costs. Countermeasures from trading partners restrict market access. The cumulative effect is a margin compression across multiple business functions.
Interest rate pressures: In an environment of elevated tariffs and supply chain disruption, inflation risks increase. The Federal Reserve's response framework becomes less predictable. For capital-intensive industries that depend on favorable financing costs, this creates planning risks that weren't present eighteen months ago. Businesses can't reliably forecast borrowing costs or capital deployment timelines.
Government relationship architecture: The bridge dispute reveals a critical point: Traditional, play-it-safe, wait-it-out approaches to government relations are woefully inadequate in this environment. When policy decisions are driven by personal dynamics rather than economic analysis, companies need different engagement strategies. Multi-front, high-low-stakeholder communication is a must-have.
What must business leaders do now?
This moment demands a systematic strategic response, not reactive commentary.
First, ruthlessly map your tariff exposure. Identify which supply chains face tariff vulnerability, which customer bases face margin pressure, and which markets face countermeasure risk. This isn't a theoretical exercise. This is operational survival planning.
Second, evaluate supply chain restructuring timelines. Some companies will need to build redundancy into their North American operations. Others will explore production relocation. Still others will adjust product mix or customer segmentation. These aren't quick decisions. They require serious capital allocation, technical evaluation, and international coordination. Start now.
Third, develop government engagement strategies that operate across multiple jurisdictions and stakeholder groups. The bridge dispute involves Canadian provincial governments, US state officials, business chambers, labor unions, and transportation authorities. They all made compelling economic arguments. Yet Team Trump acts on a mindset that is devoid of sound judgment - we are experiencing policy by personality. This suggests that traditional lobbying and government relations approaches are insufficient. Companies need more sophisticated frameworks to understand and influence policy formation in an era of persistent economic nationalism.
Fourth, prepare your investor and board communications now. Tariff policies, supply chain disruption, and interest rate uncertainty all affect earnings outlooks and capital deployment timelines. Transparent communication about these risks—and your company's strategic response—builds confidence with institutional investors and boards of directors.
Caracal Global's global business know-how
This environment is precisely why geopolitical business communications have shifted from a sideshow concern to an operational necessity.
Companies operating in North America's integrated economy now operate at the intersection of globalization, domestic politics, and economic policy. That intersection is where uncertainty originates. It's also where strategic advantage emerges for companies that understand it clearly.
Caracal Global specializes in this exact territory. We work with senior executives, board members, and CEOs responsible for geopolitics, corporate affairs, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, and communications. Our clients include Fortune 1,000 companies navigating tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and government engagement challenges—rely on us to translate geopolitical developments into actionable business strategy.
A Michigan-born geopolitical strategist leads Caracal Global, and the firm specializes in Globalization + American Politics. Caracal Global provides intelligence, strategy, and communications services to clients navigating today's interconnected business environment. Our leadership brings direct experience in US-China commercial relations, national political campaigns, NATO engagement, the energy and automotive sectors, and media dynamics. We understand how policy actually forms, how stakeholders actually mobilize, and how business communications actually influence outcomes.
The Gordie Howe Bridge dispute is instructive. It demonstrates how policy decisions that appear economically irrational often carry profound political logic. Understanding that distinction—and translating it into strategic business response—is what we do.
Businesses in the Global Great Lakes and across North America shouldn't simply react to tariff policy or threats to halt border crossings. They should engage with it strategically, clearly and with sophistication, communicating their economic impact and competitive interests to multiple stakeholder groups.
The path forward
Windsor's Mayor Drew Dilkels described the Gordie Howe Bridge as an event that, "in normal times," would be celebrated by leaders of both countries. He's right. The bridge represents exactly what successful North American economic policy should produce: infrastructure that strengthens regional competitiveness, creates jobs across borders, and facilitates commerce.
The blocking threat represents exactly what failed policy produces: uncertainty, economic friction, and damaged confidence.
For business leaders across the Global Great Lakes and beyond, the moment demands clarity. Tariff policies will continue escalating. Supply chains will require restructuring. Interest rates will remain elevated. Trump will act petulantly. Government relationships will become more needed, not less.
Companies that respond strategically by mapping exposure, restructuring operations, engaging stakeholders, and communicating high-low will navigate this environment successfully. Those who wait for clarity or assume past patterns will persist will find themselves dangerously exposed.
The bridge will likely open regardless of Team Trump's rhetoric. But the principle it represents — a global business environment of integrated, border-spanning economic cooperation — faces a genuine threat. Companies should act accordingly.
-Marc
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Marc A. Ross is a geopolitical strategist and communications advisor. He is the founder of Caracal Global and is writing a book entitled Globalization and American Politics: How International Economics Redefined American Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics.
