This commentary appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook.
Because they support over a quarter of the US economy and 31 million American jobs, proper maintenance of the nation’s deep-draft harbors and navigation channels for today’s new, larger ships is paramount to the manufacturers, retailers, exporters, and farmers who count on ports to move their products to market.
For more than three decades, US ports have been denied full maintenance funding through the harbor maintenance tax (HMT) that shippers pay to use the nation’s federal navigation channels. Committing this revenue for harbor maintenance is vital, but it’s being administered through an unfair, broken system.
That system is on the brink of change. Led by the American Association of Port Authorities, the US port industry has agreed on a new plan that devotes all HMT funds to our ports, while placing no additional tax burden on the industry or taxpayers.
Under the revised HMT plan, annual revenues would be provided to the US Army Corps of Engineers, providing benefits to all of America’s seaports, including donor and energy transfer ports, and emerging harbors.
Donor ports are those with naturally deep harbors where significantly more HMT funds are generated than they receive. Energy transfer ports, which the federal government considers a national priority, process greater than 40 million tons, and more than one quarter of their cargoes are energy products.
The nation’s smaller ports, called emerging harbors, would also see safeguards under this plan, through guaranteed minimum funding levels to address maintenance needs nationwide.
AAPA was pleased with the progress of HMT reform legislation passage (HR 2440) in the House last fall, and looks forward to seeing how the Senate and House address HMT reform in WRDA 2020, which will help keep America moving.