Ports handle minimal U. S.- bound cargo

WASHINGTON — A commissioner with a U. S. agency probing whether Canadian ports on the West Coast are luring lucrative cargo business away from their American counterparts says the problem may be minimal.

The Canadian government and other officials have told the Federal Maritime Commission that over a period of 10 years, only 2.5 per cent of U. S.- bound cargo was imported through Canadian ports, the agency’s Rebecca Dye said Thursday.

Speaking at a Canadian American Business Council conference on China, Dye didn’t say when the commission would complete its investigation and deliver its findings to the U. S. Congress.

But the matter has been a simmering trade irritant between the U. S. and Canada ever since a pair of senators from Washington state complained that Canadians are unfairly subsidizing the diversion of cargo ships away from their American competitors, particularly in Prince Rupert.

Andrew Mayer, an official at the Prince Rupert Port Authority also at the conference on Thursday, pointed out that Canadian officials hardly give cargo ships a free ride. While the U. S. taxes shippers, Canada charges them a user fee, he said.

“We charge them to help fund the maintenance of these ports, but we don’t have a tax,” he said.

He added that cost considerations aren’t a “significant component” in why overseas exporters choose a particular port.

“Their primary concerns are speed, reliability and efficiency ... shippers do not choose Prince Rupert because of costs,” he said.

Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, has said Prince Rupert was becoming a favoured port not just because it’s the closest of any West Coast port to Asia, but also because it has the lowest rail grade to U. S. centres such as Chicago and Memphis, and its terminals are not burdened by urban congestion.