Committee for the Study of U.S. Inland Containerized Cargo Moving Through Canadian and Mexican Seaports.

摘要

In undertaking the Study of U.S. Inland Containerized Cargo Moving Through Canadian and Mexican Seaports we have been guided by Congressional requests to study the impacts and the extent to which the U.S. Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT), other U.S. policies, and other factors may incentivize container cargo to shift from U.S. west coast ports to those located in Canada and Mexico. Since the creation of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC or Commission) by Congress in 1961, the Commission has had a duty to protect those engaged in the U.S. maritime trade, including shippers, carriers, ports and many others. As the U.S. Federal regulatory agency tasked with maintaining a maritime industry based on fair competition, we ascertained through both the Notice of Inquiry responses and additional research that the issues posed by the Congressional request can be reduced to three basic questions: (1) Are there any legal or regulatory bars to the carriage by sea and movement of U.S. inland containerized cargo entering via the Canadian or Mexican border; (2) What are the competitive factors that would cause a U.S. importer or exporter to route cargo through ports in these adjacent nations; (3) To further enhance the ability of U.S. ports to compete against these cross-border ports, what can Congress do to help create a level playing field. In determining whether there are any legal or regulatory bars to cross-border containerized movement, our study examined in great detail the history of cargo diversion and the many precedents in FMC case law. We further focused on the persistent liability issues raised when cargo is damaged in transit between Canadian and Mexican ports and the U.S. border, as well as the impact of differing security arrangements.