Compilation / Ma Xiaolei
Editor/ Zhang Linyu
Design / Zhao Haoran
Source/ New York Times, by Ana Swanson
On February 7, local time, in protest against the mandatory vaccination of the new crown vaccine to and from the U.S.-Canada border, Canadian truck drivers blocked an important passage connecting the United States and Canada with trucks: the "Ambassador Bridge" near Detroit. This has further hampered the already fragile automotive supply chain, triggering a series of chain reactions such as auto factory shutdowns and inventory declines.
The Ambassador Bridge blockade is particularly resilient to automakers who have already suffered from global shortages of semiconductors, through which goods are transported accounting for about a quarter of the trade between the two countries.
The partial lockdown of the Ambassador Bridge has particularly affected automakers, who have already suffered from a global shortage of semiconductors. The Ambassador Bridge connects the city of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, and transports about a quarter of the trade between the two countries.
Ford motor vehicle said that as of the afternoon of February 9 local time, it had two factories closed in Canada and one plant cut production.
David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada, which represents Toyota and Honda, said the two companies could also shut down some production lines.
Adams declined to give further details about the affected plants, but said Toyota and Honda have a total of six factories near ambassador bridges, all of which rely heavily on transportation from the bridge. Thousands of trucks shuttle across the bridge every day, delivering auto parts to major auto factories.
Adams said: "This is undoubtedly crucial for the automotive industry. ”
He said both Toyota and Honda have adopted a timely supply chain system, shipping parts to factories only when needed, and inventory can only last for two days without new supply.
Businesses are looking for other transit routes to transport goods, such as the Blue Water Bridge, which connects Port Huron, Michigan, with Sarnia, Ontario. But Highway 402, the only expressway leading to the bridge, was also blocked by protesters with truck barricades.
On February 9, more and more vehicles were diverted due to the blockage of the Ambassador Bridge, and the traffic on the Bluewater Bridge became congested.
Meanwhile, protesting truck drivers launched a new round of lockdowns, beginning to interfere with a border crossing between western Alberta and Montana, creating a third blockade along the U.S.-Canada border, putting more pressure on the auto industry in both countries, whose operations rely largely on the seamless docking of parts between the two countries.
On Feb. 9, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he would ask the U.S. federal government to assist in dealing with the lockdown in Windsor.
"Due to supply issues related to the Bluewater Bridge, the Stellantis minivan assembly plant in Windsor was forced to reduce its buses by two on February 8." LouAnn Gosselin, a spokesman for the company, said production had resumed on the morning of February 9 local time, and Stellantis was working with parts suppliers to prevent more serious production stoppages.
In a feb. 9 statement, Shane Wark, assistant to the president of Unifor, a Canadian auto union, said protests at the border continued to disrupt the operation of the auto plant, leading to short-term layoffs at a Ford engine plant in Windsor, a Stellantis assembly plant and a Ford assembly plant in Oakville, near Toronto.
"It's unstable, it's changing every hour." He said.
He added: "After two years of disruptions in specialized production and supply chains, these lockdowns are creating greater difficulties for Unifor's workers and their families, which must end immediately." ”
On the evening of February 8, local time, truck drivers protested against compulsory vaccination in downtown Ottawa
Said Deep, a Spokesman for Ford, said in a statement that the border lockdown has hurt consumers, auto workers, suppliers, communities and companies on both sides of the border, who have survived two years of component shortages caused by the global semiconductor crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
"While the current engine inventory is still sufficient to support the operation of the U.S. plant, the Oakville plant in Canada is already cutting production, and the Windsor engine plant has been shut down." Deep added.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a Feb. 9 briefing that the protesters' blockade posed a risk to the auto industry's supply chain and that the government was tracking possible disruptions to agricultural exports from Michigan to Canada.
Biden administration officials are in close contact with customs officers, Canadian and Michigan officials and industry stakeholders to evacuate traffic as quickly as possible and monitor the impact on supply chains, she said.
Saki said: "We are working hard to ensure that traffic is smooth. ”
She added: "I think it's important for every Canadian and American to understand the impact of the protests, including some of the potential impacts, on workers, on supply chains, and that's what we're most concerned about." ”
Matt Blunt, chairman of the American Automotive Policy Council, representing Chrysler, Ford and GM, said the protests had caused production cuts.
Blunt said the policy committee encouraged the Biden administration to reach out to the Canadian government. He said the Biden administration and customs officials appear to be doing everything they can to secure supplies from the U.S. side.
"In a way, if you can't get in and out of Canada, there's no particularly good way to do it," Blunt said. Every day that this shutdown or cut lasts, it has an impact on production in the United States and Canada. ”
Meanwhile, in Toronto, police are enforcing road closures in the city centre in response to truck protest convoys that could head to Toronto at any time.