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The Canadian trucker protests against vaccine mandates and lockdown restrictions, continue to cause significant disruption. Ottawa's downtown district is still gridlocked, but in the last few days, anti-vaccine protesters and trucks have been blockading the bridge that links the city of Windsor with the US city of Detroit. The closure's badly hit the automobile industry either side of the border. The trade disruption is estimated to be costing millions of dollars a day.

Peter Campbell, global motor industry correspondent at the Financial Times, says the car industry there takes delivery of car parts on a 'just in time' basis, meaning that any delay can have costly implications. The Canadian industry is built on basis of open borders, and trucks pass back and forth many times a day. Any disruption to this will be causing "a serious production headache", which, combined with the global chip shortage, means serious production challenges.

Photo: Supporters of the Truckers Convoy block traffic in the Canada bound lanes of the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario Credit: Getty Images