Freedom Convoy dents production at Ford, Toyota and Stellantis
Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images News

That happened fast. Ford (NYSE:F), Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Chrysler-maker Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) have all halted production near Detroit, the historic heart of the U.S. auto sector, in response to the latest "Freedom Convoy" protests. Truckers have shut inbound Canada traffic on the critical Ambassador Bridge since Monday night, while another border crossing, connecting the province of Alberta with Montana, has been closed in both directions since late Tuesday. Tensions arose several weeks ago when trucker vaccine mandates kicked in north of the border on Jan. 15, while an American ban followed shortly thereafter.
Economic damage: "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 Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during her latest briefing. "We're also looking to track potential disruptions to U.S. agricultural exports from Michigan into Canada." Supply chain on watch as Freedom Convoy protests spread to border crossings.
There was also a response from the Canadian side, with more than two-thirds of the $600B in goods traded annually between the two countries transported by road. "If there were to be prolonged blockages at key entry points into Canada that could start to have a measurable impact on economic activity," Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem declared, calling for a swift resolution. "We've already got a strained global supply chain. We don't need this."
Could the protests boost rail transport stocks like Canadian Pacific (NYSE:CP), Genesee & Wyoming (NYSE:BIP), CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) and Expeditors International (NASDAQ:EXPD)?
Growing weary: As the highly infectious Omicron variant begins to ease, copycat protests are now spreading to Australia, New Zealand and France. Truckers in the U.S. are even planning similar demonstrations, heaping pressure on authorities to ease up on pandemic restrictions. New York and Illinois just ended mask mandates in most indoor public settings, while New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts are lifting the restrictions for schools. Some provinces in Canada - Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec - have also dropped COVID measures since the start of the "Freedom Convoy," but have denied any connection to the demonstrations. Ottawa declares state of emergency over COVID restriction protests.