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Hey it's Daily Drive executive producer Jake Nier here in Detroit. Thank you so much for joining
this bonus episode of the show. Earlier this week on Daily Drive we heard from Windsor Mayor
Drew Dilkins about President Trump's threat to block the opening of the Gordy Howe International
Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. That bridge is already built. It's ready to open. But the
threat is adding another layer of uncertainty for auto companies that rely on cross-border supply
chains, which is pretty much all of them. We also heard a short sound bite from Glenn Stevens.
He's the executive director of Mish Auto with the Detroit Regional Chamber. That organization
represents all kinds of suppliers and other auto companies here in Michigan that are very much
affected by that. He and I talked about what this means for companies trying to make investment
decisions while juggling tariff threats, USMCA renegotiations, and now this bridge dispute.
Wanted to bring you that full conversation today. Here you go.
I go back to January 20th of last year when the America First Trade Policy Act was issued.
Since then we've had a lot of sound bites and a lot of true social posts and so we're used to that.
So the first reaction is oh here's a new one but let's not overreact either. But this one is kind
of out of left field and we subsequently kind of think why we know why that happened. But it's
concerning at the same time too because we are all pointing towards this bridge being an enabler
in a variety of different ways. So I think calmer heads will prevail and we'll get there. But it is
a new wrinkle and it does provide more uncertainty to which the businesses in our industry do not need.
Yeah, that's for sure. Especially suppliers have had a really tough time with planning
over the last year or so. You mentioned that companies are heads down trying to make parts,
deliver parts, and make vehicles. Let's say this bridge delay drags on for weeks or even months.
I know it's sort of the status quo right now but what are the real world consequences for
an auto supplier trying to hit these just-in-time delivery schedules right now?
Right. So as you know, we have other crossings. We have had them for many years. We have all
the way up to the Bluewater region. We have crossings. And of course we have the ambassador.
We have the rail system tunnels. So goods and services do move, right? However, there's a lot
of friction. There's a lot of wait times. 10,000 trucks a day at its high point. That's a lot of
trucks on one bridge. I think the Bluewater is about 6,000 trucks a day. So that's a lot of traffic.
So it doesn't disrupt something that doesn't exist right now because this is a bridge that's not
open. But this bridge does enable better, faster, quicker, and safer, and more secure
because of the way it's constructed, the way it's designed and engineered. I mean, if you visually
look at it, you see it. But if you really understand that, and I've been getting updates from the iron
workers to Local 25 for quite some time, the intelligent transportation systems that are
built into this, it provides a lot more security for our borders. And that's something that the
administration wants, both administration wants. So I think at the end of the day, it's going to
make the commerce better and safer in a lot of different ways. But it's not disruptive because
it hasn't opened yet. So going back to the uncertainty factor of all this, no business leader
obviously wants that everyone wants to be able to plan. But in terms of how these issues have
stacked, right? We've got tariff threats, USMCA renegotiation starting in July, some speculation
that the United States could even pull out of USMCA. And now this bridge fight for Michigan
Auto Company is juggling all these at once. What's the calculation they're making about
future investments, especially in cross-border operations? Well, I think a lot of future
investments have been on hold because of the uncertainty. There have been some that have
broken free and some companies have made some reshoring investments. But wholesale,
a lot of folks are, for example, waiting for what happens with USMCA. But if you are moving
parts back and forth between Canada and the US and you are relying on a system that's going
to get more efficient, you're probably going to take pause again because you have another
wrinkle in this to see what happens. And again, it all boils down to, you know, you cover this
business. These are long lead time complex supply chains. And you don't make capital decisions
lightly in this business. And so it all kind of factors in and stacks up. And that's why this
uncertainty word comes into play again with this post the other night. Do you have any other
thoughts that you want to share? Well, I think the most important thing is that we are all still
focused on a stronger USMCA and improved USMCA agreement with regards to the Canadian industry,
the Mexican industry, the US industry. It's evolved. It's developed. Will there be changes to it?
Yes. But as a unit in the United States, Canada, Mexico, for this continent, we're stronger together.
And that's our hope is that we get to that point. A lot of negotiations, a lot of give and take,
still to go. But that's what we're really focused on still. Glenn Stevens, thanks for joining us
on Daily Drive. Thanks, Jake. Good to see you. Thanks for listening to this bonus episode of
Daily Drive. We'll be back on Monday with a brand new full episode of the show.
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