Barriers
to Trade: More than Just Policy at Work
Our nation's efforts to open markets at home and around the world these last
few decades have been so successful that we now import and export more containers
than our ports can handle. In fact, a survey of the country's leading retailers
and manufacturers placed goods movement and port operations as the #2 important
issue, ahead of many trade policy issues. Importers need their products to
meet consumer demand, farmers need to get their produce exported quickly before
it rots, and many American manufacturers import their intermediary inputs
to production, such as steel. Ports play a vital role in moving goods in and
out of the United States.
How does congestion at the ports cost you? Retailers must build in extra time to their supply chains. Every day a product sits in a container on a dock rather than on a shelf at your local retail outlet, the cost of the product rises, and this is passed along to the end consumer. Some retailers might have to increase the size of their inventories in case their supplies get hung up in port. Keeping inventory on hand isn't cheap, and again the cost is passed along to the consumer.
Enlarging ports is a necessity if we're going to accommodate our import/export needs. Enlarging ports will not only keep the cost of goods down, but will create jobs. Moving cargo requires truck drivers, train operators, longshoremen, harbor pilots, warehouse workers and a crew of back office support staff, managers and sales forces. The more cargo we move, the more jobs will be created.
The Waterfront Coalition (TWC), a coalition of shippers or cargo owners comprised of retailers, manufacturers and agricultural producers importing and exporting cargo, is working towards improving the efficiency of American sea ports. Their goal is to keep the cost of their imports and exports down so that they can sell them at home and abroad at competitive prices. Among their priorities are getting terminals at ports to operate truck gates at night so trucks carrying cargo don't get hung up in rush hour commuter traffic. This also offers cargo owners some degree of certainty that they will make on-time delivery guarantees. TWC also encourages steamship lines and railroads to use relatively non-congested ports to take relieve some of the stress of traditional gateways. Finally, TWC encourages the scheduling of ships to arrive mid-week, so that they don't all arrive on the same day, causing container congestion and slow down.
To learn more about TWC
please visit www.portmod.org.