U.S. politician uses blockade at Canada-U.S. border to argue for Buy American

This item is part of Watching Washington, a regular dispatch from CBC News correspondents reporting on U.S. politics and developments that affect Canadians. 

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A U.S. lawmaker has seized on blockades at the Canada-U.S. border to argue for more Buy American-style policies and for less reliance on buying goods from Canada.

The call from Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin comes as the protest at a vital Windsor-Detroit crossing has slowed commercial cargo delivery and hit car plants, with several companies stopping production.

"Michiganders have been saying for decades that when our manufacturing is outsourced too much, we end up paying the price," Slotkin wrote in a series of tweets Wednesday night. 

"It doesn't matter if it's an adversary or an ally — we can't be this reliant on parts coming from foreign countries," she said. 

"The one thing that couldn't be more clear is that we have to bring American manufacturing back home to states like Michigan. If we don't, it's American workers ... who are left holding the bag."

She said she had contacted the White House about the problem and was waiting for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make a move.

What's the context 

The timing of this is problematic for Canada and not just because car companies are already suffering parts shortages, while the price of goods surges through inflation.

It's also because this counters months of efforts from Canada to keep the countries connected in the production of next-generation electric vehicles.

Canadian federal and provincial officials and business leaders have been visiting Washington for months, urging against a tax credit that would favour electric cars built in the U.S.

It had become the biggest bilateral irritant between the countries, with Canadian politicians warning that the credit as designed would be devastating to Canada, violate trade deals and negate more than a half-century of integration in the auto sector.

Now one of the up-and-coming members of the Democratic Party says current events prove the opposite: that the U.S. should rely less on Canada.

Slotkin was a star recruit for the Democrats in 2018, a former CIA analyst who narrowly won a seat in the House of Representatives in a swing district in Michigan.

Her party is expected to lose control of the House in this year's midterms and will be fighting hard to hold her district, which has had its borders adjusted slightly since 2020.

What's next

It will be a pivotal few months for North American auto policy. At the moment, the electric vehicle tax credit and its accompanying Buy American debate is in suspended animation, after one senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, blew up talks aimed at passing President Joe Biden's signature Build Back Better bill.

But expect talks to resume. Manchin holds a key vote in the Senate and has hinted several times that he could be amenable to reviving the Build Back Better plan in some other, smaller form and under a different name.

It's unclear whether the irritant will make it into a final bill. Manchin has expressed some misgivings with the electric-vehicle credit but has been vague in public remarks about the specifics of what he wants.