By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –Toyota Motor Corp. Ford Motor (NYSE) Co. and General Motors Co. (NYSE) said that Friday’s disruption at the Canadian border due to trucking protests prompted new production cuts at Michigan, Ohio West Virginia, Alabama, and Ontario.

Ford, the 2nd largest U.S. automobile manufacturer, announced that it was forced to suspend production temporarily at Ohio’s assembly plant due to a shortage of parts caused by the interruptions at the border.

Ford stated that its Oakville and Windsor plants, Ontario, are still operating at a reduced capacity. Ford announced Friday that production at its Avon Lake assembly plant in Ohio, where it produces medium-duty pickup trucks of the F-Series, was stopped.

Ford also stated separately that Avon Lake will be shut down next week due to the continuing global shortage in semiconductor chips.

The “Freedom Convoy” by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, mirrored by the U.S. government, began with the occupation of the Canadian capital, Ottawa. They then placed a blockade on the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor to Detroit this week.

It is North America’s busiest land border crossing, and serves as a vital supply route to Detroit’s automobilemakers.

Toyota reduces production at engine plants in West Virginia (and Alabama)

“We expect disruptions through the weekend, and we’ll continue to make adjustments as needed,” said Toyota, the largest Japanese automaker.

Toyota announced on Thursday that it will stop production at the Ontario and Kentucky plants until Saturday due to parts shortages related to protests.

Stellantis Chrysler parent Stellantis stated that North America’s plants started operations on Friday morning, but that a variety of U.S.- and Canadian plants were forced to reduce their shifts over the course of the week by parts shortages caused in part by the Detroit/Windsor bridge closure.

Honda announced that it would temporarily stop manufacturing one line of its production lines during the day shift at Alliston’s Ontario plant.

General Motors stopped work at the Michigan plant Thursday due to border problems and said that it had cut production in Ontario and Michigan on Friday.

GM announced that production at the Flint Assembly plant, which builds pickup trucks, and the CAMI Assembly in Ontario, where the Chevrolet Equinox is built was cut. Normal production was expected to resume during the second shift.