Article content

Forty thousand people in Windsor and Essex County work in manufacturing, 80 per cent of them in the auto industry.

There are more than 90 vehicle and parts manufacturers, more than 250 machine, tool, die and mould manufacturers, most producing for the auto industry.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Jarvis: Windsor-Essex is ground zero if NAFTA collapses Back to video

Twenty-eight per cent of the region’s gross domestic product comes from its auto industry. That’s $3.3 billion a year.

And 80 per cent of what the Windsor area auto industry produces is exported to the United States — under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

More than 6,000 residents, more than four times the number in any other Canadian metropolitan area, cross the border every day to work in the U.S. — under NAFTA.

The regional economy is tied to the U.S. more than any other place in Canada, and if the U.S. withdraws from NAFTA, “it would be disastrous,” says Jonathan Azzopardi, president of mould maker Laval International in Tecumseh.