Don't expect the container shipping industry to fund much-needed US highway rebuilding - it's not big enough, says Christopher Koch, head of the World Shipping Council, reported the American Shipper.
Speaking at the convention of the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade in Providence, Rhode Island, he said: "Import and export containerised freight is too small [to] fund highway construction.
"Trying to tax this small portion of America's freight commerce as a way to pay for highway construction would also [be] challenged as discriminatory, under the [US] constitution's prohibition on taxing exports, the World Trade Organisation's restrictions on discriminating against imports, and international container conventions that guarantee tax free admission of containers," he said.
"To the extent a tax on containerised shipments would be logical or legally sound, it would be as a non-discriminatory user fee assessment applied against any cargo shipment using a highway project built on a user fee model."
Mr Koch also said environmental problems such air emissions from ships and ballast water discharges will likely become as important as security issues are today.
"That is ironic because shipping is the most energy efficient way to transport goods, and produces less pollution per ton mile than rail, truck or air transportation," he said.
"While the cost of complying with such new standards will be significant, this should improve air quality, should provide an effective and predicable international regulatory regime, and will hopefully eliminate a reason for holding up the permit approval process for maritime infrastructure expansion," he said.
On ballast water discharges, he said shipping "can support a solution that provides for the installation of treatment technology even though this may cost billions" but he also sought a straightforward regulatory framework in which the industry could operate.
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