The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that everybody knows that Donald Trump's threat to block the opening of a Gordie Howe International Bridge is a shakedown. The Globe's Campbell Clark writes that the lesson is that the United States is willing to use all its leverage as a weapon. Only six Republican members of the House of Representatives were willing to stand up and say that blatantly shaking down your neighbour is bad policy. The tariffs in question were imposed a year ago over a non-existent flood of fentanyl being shipped from Canada to the U.S. On Monday, he said he would not allow the new Windsor-Detroit connection, key for bilateral trade, to open until the U.S. has been "fully compensated" for all it has done for Canada. Mr. Trump endorsed the bridge in his first term, and the State of Michigan will own half of it even though Canada is paying for the whole bridge. Shakedowns are now an established part of U.S. politics, used broadly to collect tolls and demand compliance. The bare majority that voted Wednesday to oppose some of Mr. Trump's tariffs was not a sign that the whole mad policy is coming to an end. It is an indicator that the threats and shakedowns are going to continue for a long time.