Stateside Executive Producer Laura Weber Davis filed the following story for Marketplace.
About a quarter of all trade value between the U.S. and Canada happens over one bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit.
The key driver of the relationship is the auto industry. It’s estimated that every vehicle that comes off the line here passes over the international crossing about eight times.
“So from an economic perspective we’re integrated very tightly,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. His office at Windsor City Hall overlooks the downtowns of both his city and Detroit. He’s lived in Windsor his whole life, but he went to grad school in Detroit and spent some of his professional life there.
“And so Detroit for me and my family has just been an extension of my back yard,” he said.
But the threat of a trade war between the two countries has rattled some business and political leaders, like Dilkens.
President Donald Trump has said tariffs are an important tool for the U.S., and he that he wants to push our neighbors to the north and south on border security.
Drew Dilkens in the mayor of Windsor, Ontario. (Laura Weber Davis/Marketplace) But some economists say if President Trump follows through with 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports, the automotive sector could suffer. And that could send a chill through a region that shares warm economic and cultural ties.
“You know, we’re brothers from another mother,” said Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, of the relationship between Detroit and Windsor. Baruah said he hears the outrage coming from Canadians over President Trump’s tariff threats. “Frankly, I think outrage is deserved. Canada is our dear friend both culturally and economically.”
The Detroit Regional Chamber recently polled Michigan voters and found 68% of Michiganders view Canada as an economic friend, and a majority also view tariffs as detrimental to that relationship.
“Sixty-eight percent for anything — I mean even apple pie, motherhood and Chevrolet — is an odd development these days,” said Baruah. “So to have 68% of Michiganders agree on this point … is a big deal.”
The city skylines of Detroit and Windsor face each other across the Detroit River. Folks on the Canadian side grew up listening to Motown and root for the Detroit Lions. Southeast Michiganders grew up watching kids’ television programs on CBC, and know the lyrics to “O Canada.”
“There’s a lot of cultural touch points, from sports to food. We’re always going to be connected,” said Travis Wright, a Metro Detroiter. He was born in Ontario and moved to Michigan as a child. He said he likes spending time on the Detroit riverfront so he can see Canada and absorb he two homelands.
“There’s just a sense of home,” he said. “As much as I’m Americanized — and I became a citizen — I’m Canadian to the bone.”
Travis Wright was born in Ontario but lives in Michigan. (Laura Weber Davis/Marketplace) Thousands of people on either side of the river have family and friends in the other country. People cross the border for work every day. Many own property on the other side of the bridge.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said that closeness is what makes the threat of a trade war so jarring.
“Let me make no bones about this — this economic threat, it hurts,” he said. “The thought that there’s going to be an economic assault by the United States on Canada, I mean we’re shaking our heads saying ‘How did we get here? How does this happen?’”
Dilkens said he is considering what economic levers he has to pull if President Trump’s broad tariffs go into effect. But he said something else is happening at the street level; Canadians are beginning to shy away from buying any U.S.-made products because they feel burned.
“The U.S. is picking on their closest neighbor, largest trading partner and, what I would argue to be, best friend. But clearly friendship doesn’t mean anything.”
Dilkens said Detroit and Windsor will remain close no matter what. But if a trade war breaks out, these two cities will be on the front line.
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GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
- Drew Dilkens, Mayor of Windsor ON
