Prices paid to U.S. producers jumped in January by more than forecast, pointing to persistent inflationary pressures as companies contend with supply chain and labor constraints.

The anti-vaccine protests that choked off a critical trade route between the U.S. and Canada last week are just the latest drama for an auto supply chain increasingly fraught with tension.

The Ambassador Bridge that links Canada with the U.S. has reopened, clearing the largest trade artery between the two countries after a five-day protest shut it down.

Canadian protests that began by championing the rights of truckers have spread into sprawling, ad-hoc anti-establishment demonstrations across the country — shuttering crucial trade links, confounding police and giving hints that the efforts could spread.

While tight supplies of semiconductors are set to ease later this year, the next bottleneck is likely to come from growing demand for analog chips, which are increasingly being used in automobiles as they become electrified and autonomous.

U.S. supply chains have a chance to normalize after retailers replenish inventories next quarter, even if peak summer demand arrives sooner than usual, according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

There’s nothing in the lean and just-in-time supply chain methodologies that recommend keeping a bare minimum of parts on hand. In fact, they preach the opposite.

Protestors blocking traffic between the U.S. and Canada to oppose vaccine rules have further stretched an auto supply chain already worn thin by pandemic-related labor shortages and a scarcity of chips.

Surging prices of the raw materials needed for your refrigerators, automobiles, window frames and plumbing show no signs of abating as America’s supply chain crisis spills into another year.