The Chamber of Marine Commerce today joins governments, policymakers, industry and the general public in celebrating the nation’s merchant marine industry, but also urges reforms to ensure greater industrial competitiveness, jobs and prosperity.
U.S. commercial shipping is a critical economic driver with a recent study from Martin Associates estimating that port-related activity contributed $4.6 trillion to the American economy and supported 23 million jobs in 2014.
As the nation’s economy strives to accelerate, these numbers can continue to grow as companies, manufacturers, farmers and miners seek to cost-effectively ship materials and products across North American borders and to markets further afield.
“The maritime industry is doing a tremendous job providing safe, efficient and environmentally advanced transportation critical to the success of America’s industrial and agricultural sectors and the country’s export ambitions,” said Stephen Brooks, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “But these benefits and the potential to do much more for the American economy depend on smart, reasonable and practical regulations.”
According to the hamber of Marine Commerce, notable policy changes that can foster this growth include:
Rick Ruzzin, Senior Director of Logistics for Compass Minerals, said, “The marine industry has been an instrumental part of our economic history and plays a critical role in enabling the supply of the mining industry to reach critical markets. It is important to our long-term future that we have sensible marine regulations that do not restrict commerce. Our industry can improve its competitive position by increased icebreaker resources to critical regions of the Great Lakes and increased competition to help mitigate the cost of mandated fees.”
Bill Terry, President and CEO, Eagle Rock Aggregates, said, “We rely heavily on short-sea shipping to carry our company’s construction aggregates along the West Coast to build roads and other important infrastructure for American cities. Lawmakers need to realize that unreasonable shipping regulations unnecessarily increase American infrastructure costs, hurt American competitiveness and cost American jobs. That is why Eagle Rock Aggregates has been working with the maritime industry to reform the North American Emission Control Area to protect both the environment but also future economic growth.”