Despite concerns about the U.S. and global economies, the United States is poised for more maritime agricultural trade opportunities.
According to the JOC article “Exporting a Path to Growth” (Nov. 7, 2011), the United Nations determined that on Oct. 31, 2011, “… a child was born somewhere in the world who brought the global population tally to 7 billion.” As Peter T. Leach writes, “It’s an enormous opportunity for food suppliers in the United States and other global producers of grains and foodstuffs to step up to the plate.”
With the potential for the U.S. food industry to be one of the most rapidly growing industries in our economy, the port industry and our overall supply chain needs to be significantly improved to support our nation’s agricultural exports to overseas markets as well as the regular movement of imports.
The global food supply and its logistics needs will rise to prominence in 2012 and beyond, requiring a more comprehensive look at supply chain infrastructure.
Seaports are one of our nation’s oldest and largest economic drivers and job generators. Yet the federal government has not allocated a sufficient amount of its 2012 discretionary spending budget on critical transportation priorities.
Meanwhile, we are observing an increase in competitiveness of international gateways. To support the U.S. agricultural community and for U.S. ports to compete globally, we need a national freight policy that incorporates a funding mechanism for seaport-related infrastructure, landside connections, and harbor deepening and maintenance dredging.
We hope 2012 will see some national policy development to support ensuring maritime goods movement for U.S. exports and global imports and investing in America’s seaports. These investments are essential to supporting the maritime trade industry, maintaining our global competitiveness and increasing our nation’s economic prosperity.