U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have a major problem on their hands as truckers, and like-minded demonstrators on the Canadian side of the border continued to block access to three border crossings in Michigan, Montana, and North Dakota to protest COVID-19 related restriction, as per a CNN report. The protest has severe economic implications for the United States and Canada, with auto plants on both sides of the border forced to shut down or scale back production because of the truck blockade.
The Biden administration wants to resolve the issue fast, urging Trudeau's government to use its federal powers to end the bumper-to-bumper demonstration. Scores of truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy have blocked the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, Michigan for the fourth straight day, affecting the flow of automotive parts and other products between the two nations.
The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest border crossing linking the United States and Canada, with 25 percent of all trade between the two countries transported through here. The effects of the protest were felt rapidly by businesses on both sides of the border, particularly the automakers.
According to Manufacturing.net, Ford announced that its engine plant in Windsor finally reopened on Thursday, February 10, after being forced to shut down on Wednesday, February 9, because of a shortage in parts. Ford's production was still not at 100 percent, though with the company's factory and assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, operating at reduced capacity because of the blockade.
Toyota's operations in Ontario were also affected by the protest, with the Japanese carmaker closing three of its plants there for the rest of the week due to parts shortages. Stellantis' operations also took a hit in Canada, with the company sending home early its morning shift workers at the Windsor minivan plant.
General Motors canceled the second shift on the American side of the border on Wednesday and the first and second shifts on Thursday at its SUV facility just outside Lansing, Michigan, because of the parts shortage. Production was also curtailed at Toyota's plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.
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CNBC reported that the White House said that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have already spoken with their Canadian counterparts, urging them to help end the standoff. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer voiced her displeasure with the Canadian response to the blockade, saying that the standoff is "hitting paychecks and production lines, and that is unacceptable."
The protesters want vaccine mandates to be removed for truckers and the lifting of other COVID-19 restrictions such as the wearing of masks. Trudeau is not backing down, though, with the Canadian Prime Minister maintaining his firm stance against lifting vaccine mandates, including a rule that requires all truck drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated.
With the standoff showing no signs of ending, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens announced that the city would look for a court injunction to end the blockade. Dilkens said that "the economic harm is not sustainable and it must come to an end."
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