Toyota Engine, General Motors, ford engine Y Stellantisarray of chryslerThey said this Thursday that they had been forced to cancel or reduce part of their production due to the shortage of parts derived from the protests of Canadian truckers against health demands due to the pandemic.
Truckers, who oppose a vaccination or quarantine requirement for cross-border drivers, have used their large trucks to hold up traffic in the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsorin Ontario, which accounts for about 25% of trade between the United States and Canada.
A spokesman for Toyota told Reuters the automaker was suspending production through Saturday at plants on both sides of the border, in Ontario and Kentucky. The largest japanese car manufacturer it said it was “experiencing multi-route logistics outages.”
Ford it said its plants in Windsor and Oakville, another Canadian city, were running at reduced capacity.
Stellantis It said all of its North American factories were running as of Thursday morning, “but several US and Canadian plants cut second shifts Wednesday night due to parts shortages caused by the closure of the Detroit/Windsor bridge.”
GM said it was forced to stop production Thursday at a Michigan plant where it builds sport utility vehicles following the protests.
GM Vice President for Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, Shilpan Amintold suppliers on Thursday, in a message seen by Reuters, that “although we may have intermittent stoppages, we intend to keep production running and adhere to current schedules at all of our manufacturing operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.” “.
The Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmerasked Canada on Thursday to reopen the Ambassador Bridge, as did US representatives Debbie Dingell and Dan Kildee.
“It is imperative that Canadian local, provincial and national governments ease this economic lockdown,” Whitmer said. “They must take all necessary and appropriate measures to reopen traffic immediately and safely.”