[DIPLOMACY] New Industrial Revolution in the Great Lakes

The United States has seen tremendous announcements by major automotive companies in the last month, and increased cooperation between American and Canadian companies puts our nations in a prime position to begin the development of a new revolution in automotive manufacturing.

The recent events in Europe put us in a position to fully eclipse German automotive manufacturing, and the silence of the Japanese government permits us a chance at superseding even the Pacific rim in production. The Great Lakes Megalopolis is the most productive zone in terms of pure output of goods and resources, something that will be compounded by the St. Lawrence Seaway expansion. Heavy civilian and industrial integration in past years has allowed the United States and Canada to enjoy a hugely prosperous trade condominium across the region.

The time has come to focus that potential in the face of economic disaster on the West Coast.

We would like to propose pushing all automotive manufacturing centers in the Great Lakes region towards Industry 4.0 standards. The trade corridors stretching from Canadian cities to American ones are laden with production and refinement facilities, and we would propose a joint $60bn grant [50% paid by each nation] in order to begin construction of further facilities and begin total integration of automotive production. Industry 4.0 standards would entail total interoperability with equipment from each factory, and taking a page out of the Australian book, the development of a new suite of manufacturing robots that will be able to streamline production to a tremendous extent.

Currently, Canada is working a program for additive manufacturing, and once complete, these systems can be integrated into facilities in both nations, and across both countries. The idea is to be able to rapidly manufacture small components such as screws, fasteners, and other small non-moving parts that can then be swiftly integrated into the assembly line. This approach is faster than pure additive manufacturing or use of industrial robots. It's the best of both worlds and offers an industrial megacity that will be almost completely automated, constantly churning out vehicles and other goods.

We would also suggest a joint investment of $10bn into decentralized industrial systems, seeking to create a framework for assembly lines that can make decisions should something go wrong, quickly restoring production with minimal human interference. Naturally what this brings with it is the need for the tightest industrial cybersecurity in the entire world, which is what part of this grant would go towards. With investment into this system, we can build and integrated manufacturing system that is able to operate almost fully independent, and is nigh impregnable by cyberseucrity threats.

Finally, we would like to maximize the use of automated trucks and shipping vehicles, so that we can have components and goods transferred from facility to facility, independent of human operation. Autonomous transport protocols in the Great Lakes would be implemented with a joint fund of $5bn, finalizing the overall proposal as the most integrated, supremely productive automotive industrial center on the entire planet once complete.