The Canada-U.S. Border: An Automotive Study

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For the Canadian and U.S. automotive industries, the internal crossing points of the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel (Detroit-Windsor); the Blue Water Bridge (Port Huron-Sarnia), and the Peace Bridge (Buffalo-Fort Erie) are the critical connecting points within the logistics chain that support new light duty vehicle shipments of pproximately US$4801 billion (the value of the products shipped from assembly plants) between the two countries. Automotive trade flowing between the two countries in 2000 was US$43.6 billion of vehicles and US$34.6 billion of automotive parts. From 1991 through 2000, the compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for total vehicle and total parts trade were 5.3 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively. These trade growth rates compare to a 3.9 percent growth rate for the value of vehicle shipments and 3.2 percent for material shipment into assembly plant value (U.S. rates of growth).2 From this perspective, vehicle trade growth rates are 36 percent greater than overall industry growth rates, and component trade growth rates are 81 percent higher than the overall industry original equipment component shipment growth rates. The greater growth rates for cross-border shipments of vehicles and parts indicate a growing interdependence between the Canadian and U.S. auto industries and place a greater level of importance on keeping the primary automotive commercial crossing points as efficient as possible.