Canada and US Warn About Protests’ Economic Consequences

On Wednesday, the White House said that truckers opposed to coronavirus mandates are hurting the auto sector and agriculture as they block U.S-Canada border crossings. At the same time, Ottawa called to end the siege after 13-day long disturbances.

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Since January, truckers' protests opposing to vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border truckers began to cause gridlock in the capital of Canada. Starting last Monday, they blocked the traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, an essential route for the country as it is a supply route for Detroit's carmakers and agricultural products. Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Chrysler-maker Stellantis (STLA.MI) productions have already been affected.

"I think it's important for everyone in Canada and the United States to understand what the impact of this blockage is - potential impact - on workers, on the supply chain, and that is where we're most focused," said on Wednesday Jen Psaki, White House spokesperson.

"We're also looking to track potential disruptions to U.S. agricultural exports from Michigan into Canada," she added, saying that Washington is working with authorities across the border to reroute traffic to the Blue Water Bridge.

The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, urged for a swift resolution. "If there were to be prolonged blockages at key entry points into Canada, that could start to have a measurable impact on economic activity," he noted.

"We've already got a strained global supply chain. We don't need this."