The Detroit Regional Chamber is reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
The chamber's chief automotive and innovation officer, Glenn Stevens Jr, told AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides that it was important to not overreact to Trump's threat.
He noted Prime Minister Mark Carney's effort to shift the tone during a phone call with Trump on Monday.
Carney said he walked Trump through the history, explaining that Canada funded the bridge, ownership is shared with Michigan, and that steel from both countries went into the project.
Stevens Jr., who also serves as executive director of MichAuto, said he understands how Trump's rhetoric could affect Canadians.
"We don't look at you as trade partners or commerce partners. We look at you as friends and neighbours from our side of the border," he said.
"We've been doing business forever. We vacation together, we play hockey against each other, and so we feel for what that rhetoric might do to the Canadian mindset."
He said the bridge is needed to enable stronger, faster, and more efficient commerce.
"We need it so our people can flow more easily whether they're vacationing, or they're healthcare workers coming from Windsor to work in our hospitals," Stevens Jr. said.
"We need it for security. I think that's one of the things we're hearing a little bit about, but, we have to remember this bridge is built, designed, and engineered to be a high tech safety and security monitor as much as anything, and that's an improvement. We all want better border security and certainly the administration does."
Stevens Jr. said the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge will allow the two countries to be stronger together.
"As trade partners we are not going to do well together if we're isolated from each other, and we need a stronger USMCA, or CUSMA from your perspective," he said.
"That's something we continue to point to because we are stronger together as a trade bloc, and that's what we're going to continue to beat that drum in Washington about."
Carney told reporters Tuesday that U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra — who is from Michigan — may “play a role in smoothing the conversation in and around the bridge,” at Trump’s request.
-With files from CTV News