The head of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce says that Windsor and Detroit may be in two countries, but we are one region when it comes to the two economies.
Chamber president and CEO Sandy Baruah delivered the message Thursday at the Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce 150th annual general meeting held outside the Legacy Beacon along Windsor’s riverfront.
“We happen to be two countries, but the Windsor and Michigan economies, our automotive economy, agriculture economy, etc., they are one industry, and we’ve built them together over the last 100 years,” he says.
The comments come during a trade war between Canada and the U.S. that has seen tariffs levied by U.S. President Donald Trump and counter tariffs by the Canadian government.
Baruah says this can’t last.
“We’ll eventually go back to normalcy; how long that is going to take, I’m not quite sure. Our members are anxious for the most part to get this resolved,” he says.
Baruah says the whole trade and tariff situation is a big issue for his members.
“By and large, companies are seeing a tremendous increase in costs because of our interdependence. That creates issues in terms of being able to hire more employees, maintain profit margins, and invest in new products,” he says.
Baruah adds that we are one integrated region, especially in the area of automotive, with a bi-national economy that was built on purpose.
The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce represents around 3,000 member businesses.