TORONTO (AP) — The truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country's COVID-19 restrictions is tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, General Motors and other car companies to shut down plants or otherwise reduce production on both sides of the U.S. border.

The bumper-to-bumper demonstration by the self-proclaimed Freedom Truck Convoy entered its fourth day Thursday at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products between the two countries.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities braced for the possibility of similar truck-convoy protests across the United States, and authorities in Paris and Belgium banned road blockades to head off disruptions there too.

свернуть