General Motors and Ford Motor said on Tuesday that they had not experienced any disruptions to parts deliveries at their factories because of the protests over vaccine mandates in Canada and that they did not expect any immediate problems.
The protests have partially closed the bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, a busy border crossing that is a vital link for the movement of automotive components to plants in both countries.
About 8,000 trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge linking the two cities on a typical day, many of them hauling auto parts from suppliers on one side to vehicle plants on the other. Traffic over the bridge was closed Monday night by a protest of truckers that has clogged the streets of Ottawa for the past week. In the last few days, the protest, which began as a demonstration against requirements that truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border be vaccinated, has spread to other parts of Canada.
The protests have raised fears that the auto industry, a major employer across the Midwest and Ontario, could grind to a halt if the free flow of parts and vehicles across the border is halted or disrupted.
G.M. and Ford have extensive operations in Canada. G.M. has a large assembly plant in Oshawa, near Toronto, that it recently retooled. The company said in November that the plant had reopened and produced its first Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The automaker is planning to build electric delivery vans at another plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, roughly halfway between Detroit and Toronto. Ford has two auto assembly and two engine plants in Ontario.
Representatives for both companies said they were not anticipating any problems with parts supplies in the coming days. Auto plants in Michigan and Canada have grown accustomed to adjusting delivery schedules and parts supplies during the pandemic because of supply chain problems and public health restrictions.
On Tuesday, the Ambassador Bridge was reopened for traffic traveling from Canada into the United States, but it remained closed in the other direction because of protesting truckers on the Ontario side, according to the private company that owns the crossing, the Detroit International Bridge Company.
The bridge company and the Michigan Department of Transportation have advised commercial traffic headed for Canada to divert to the smaller Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, 60 miles north of Detroit, which remains open to traffic in both directions. On Tuesday, commercial vehicles were having to wait about 90 minutes before crossing into Canada via the Blue Water Bridge, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.
A tunnel between Detroit and Windsor remains open, although it is primarily used by cars and light trucks. The Canadian border agency reported wait times at the tunnel of less than 15 minutes in each direction.
