The closure of the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest international land border crossing and a vital supply route for Detroit’s carmakers, has halted some auto output and left officials scrambling to limit economic damage.

Canadian truckers started their protests as a “Freedom Convoy” occupying Ottawa, the capital, to demonstrate opposition to a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers mirrored by the U.S. government.

They began blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Monday and have since shut two smaller border crossings in Alberta and Manitoba.

As many pandemic-weary western countries near the two-year mark on coronavirus restrictions, copycat protests have spread to Australia, New Zealand and France, although the wave of infections caused by the highly infectious Omicron variant has begun to subside in some places.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged their Canadian counterparts “to use federal powers to resolve this situation at our joint border,” a White House official said on Thursday.

“U.S. and Canadian border and customs authorities are working with great urgency to ensure the continued flow of goods and services across our international border, leveraging alternative land routes, as well as air and sea options.”

A U.S. homeland security adviser, Liz Sherwood Randall, is due to speak with Canada’s Deputy Defence Minister Jody Thomas.

Canadian federal ministers have called the blockade illegal and asked protesters to return home. Police near the Ambassador Bridge have begun receiving additional manpower, Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, which borders Detroit, told CNN.

“(If) the protesters don’t leave, there will have to be a path forward. If that means physically removing them, that means physically removing them, and we’re prepared to do that,” he said.

Dilkens later said Windsor was seeking an injunction from Ontario Superior Court to have the protesters removed, adding he was striving to resolve the issue peacefully.

“(While) it may be gratifying for someone to see the forced removal of the demonstrators, such action may inflame the situation and certainly cause more folks to come here and add to the protest, and we don’t want to risk additional conflict,” Dilkens said.

Diverting cargo

With traffic at times shut in both directions, General Motors and Chrysler’s parent Stellantis said on Thursday they had to cancel or reduce shifts because of parts shortages, tacking on to earlier production cuts announced by Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota said it was suspending production through Saturday at its plants in Ontario and Kentucky, affecting manufacturing of the Camry, RAV4 and other popular models.

Ford is looking at flying in some auto parts to a plant in Windsor that produces engines for popular models, a union official said.

The Ambassador Bridge was completely shut from both directions on Thursday as of 3:15 p.m. ET, according to a Reuters witness.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was working to end the bridge blockade which hurt “regular Canadians whether it’s grocery store prices, whether it’s jobs lost or suspended, whether it’s supply chains disrupted.”

In a tweet Thursday, Trudeau said he had spoken to Dilkens and said the federal government was ready to help Windsor and the province get the situation under control.

“It is causing real harm to workers and economies on both sides of the border,” he said.

An Ontario court on Thursday froze funds donated to anti-vaccine protesters through the app GiveSendGo. The convoy group had raised more than $8 million as of late Thursday afternoon, the Boston-based company said.

Protesters began gathering with their vehicles in Ottawa nearly two weeks ago and have occupied the main downtown street that runs by Parliament, the Bank of Canada and the prime minister’s office.

More U.S disruption to come?

More than two-thirds of the $511 billion in goods traded annually between Canada and the U.S. is transported by road. The Detroit International Bridge Co., which owns the Ambassador Bridge, urged Canada to end the protest by repealing the vaccine mandate or remove the vehicles so trade can resume.

A third option was to do “nothing and hope this ends on its own: an option that will most likely prolong the blockade, further crippling our economy and putting more jobs at risk,” the company’s chairman, Matt Moroun, said in a statement.

Seeking to show support for the Canadian protesters, some U.S. truckers said they will send two convoys this weekend to a fourth border crossing that connects Buffalo, N.Y. and Fort Erie, Ont.

The U.S. is adding staff to its command post at the National Football League’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles in response to reports of a convoy causing disruptions at Sunday’s game, the White House official said.

The official said in a statement that the Department of Homeland Security was making preparations to ensure that a ‘Freedom Convoy’ event in Washington D.C. due in early March “does not disrupt lawful trade and transportation or interfere with federal government and law enforcement operations and emergency services.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Carlos Osorio,Steve Holland and Ismail Shakil; additional reporting by David Shepardson, Chris Gallagher and Tim Ahmann in Washington, Rod Nickel in Manitoba, Julie Gordon in Ottawa and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; writing by Rami Ayyub and Costas Pitas.

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After nearly two years of pandemic measures in many countries, opposition has sprung up in different ways with copycat protests in Australia, New Zealand and France as the highly infectious Omicron variant begins to ease in many countries.

Horn-blaring protests have being causing gridlock in the capital Ottawa since late January and from Monday night, truckers shut inbound Canada traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, a supply route for Detroit’s carmakers and agricultural products.

Another major border crossing, at Coutts in southern Alberta, has been closed in both directions since late on Tuesday.

Starting as a “Freedom Convoy” occupying downtown Ottawa opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border truckers mirrored by the U.S. government, protesters have also aired grievances about a carbon tax and other legislation.

“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,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

“We’re also looking to track potential disruptions to U.S. agricultural exports from Michigan into Canada.”

Washington is working with authorities across the border to reroute traffic to the Blue Water Bridge, which links Port Huron in Michigan with Sarnia in Ontario, amid worries protests could turn violent, she told reporters.

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem called 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 said.

“We’ve already got a strained global supply chain. We don’t need this.”

Protests spread

The protests were disrupting jobs too and “must end before further damage occurs,” Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister, Bill Blair, told reporters.

The bridge closure has already caused a shortage of parts at carmaker Stellantis’ assembly plant in Windsor.

The company said it had to end shifts early on Tuesday, but the plant was able to resume production Wednesday morning.

The auto industry is also struggling with a lack of semi-conductor chips worldwide.

Protesters say they are peaceful, but some Ottawa residents have said they were attacked and harassed. In Toronto, streets were being blocked.

“We continue to know that science and public health rules and guidance is the best way to this pandemic is the way we’re going to get to the other side,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The issue has caused a sharp split between the ruling Liberals and the opposition Conservatives, many of whom have expressed open support for the protesters in Ottawa and accuse Trudeau of using the mandates issue for political purposes.

Downtown residents criticized police for their initially permissive attitude toward the blockade, but authorities began trying to take back control Sunday night with the seizure of thousands of litres of fuel and the removal of an oil tanker truck.

Police have asked for reinforcements — both officers and people with legal expertise in insurance and licensing — suggesting intentions to pursue enforcement through commercial vehicle licenses.

But as the authorities attempt to quell demonstrations in one area, they pop up elsewhere.

“Even as we have made some headway in Ottawa, we’ve seen an illegal blockade emerge in Windsor,” said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

— Reporting for Reuters by Carlos Osorio in Windsor, Blair Gable in Ottawa and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny, Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Ismail Shakil and Kanishka Singh in Bangalore, Ben Klayman in Detroit and Doina Chiacu in Washington; writing by Denny Thomas and Costas Pitas.

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