New bridge spans no. 1 border for world trade

By Theophilos Argitis and Andrew Mayeda

Chrysler Group LLC says traffic delays at the Canada-U.S. border are driving up costs for the world’s seventh-largest carmaker, which sends 2,000 finished cars and trucks a day across an 83-year-old bridge linking Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to change that, announcing an investment of at least $550 million to build a bridge to speed shipments across the busiest commercial border crossing in the world’s biggest trade relationship.

“The name of the game with respect to our manufacturing operations is just-in-time inventory, not just-in-case inventory delivery,” said Reid Bigland, chief executive officer of the Canadian unit of Chrysler, majority owned by Fiat SpA (F), in a telephone interview.

While the Canadian government has spent much of the last decade lamenting the country’s reliance on the U.S. economy and seeking stronger trade links with Asia, the proposed bridge shows cross-border business is increasing.

Canada’s exports to the U.S. rose in the first quarter to their highest level in three years, with the U.S. accounting for 73 percent of total shipments. That share touched a record 85 percent in 2001.

‘Unnecessary Costs’