Sens. Murray, Cantwell introduce Maritime Goods Movement Act

U.S. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on Aug. 15 introduced the Maritime Goods Movement Act for the 21st Century, which proposes to repeal the Harbor Maintenance Tax and replace it with a Maritime Goods Movement User Fee to help fund port operations and maintenance.

A long-established tax on imports that helps fund the operation and maintenance of large and small U.S. ports, the Harbor Maintenance Tax is not being fully collected, which is preventing many ports from making necessary infrastructure improvements, Murray and Cantwell said in a joint statement. The Maritime Goods Movement User Fee would double the amount of funds available for American ports, they believe.

"This legislation will change the Harbor Maintenance Tax to give shippers new incentives to move their goods through American ports," said Murray.

The legislation also aims to prevent shippers from avoiding the Maritime Goods Movement User Fee by using ports in Canada and Mexico. In addition, the bill would set aside a portion of the user fees for low-use, remote harbors that are at a competitive disadvantage for federal funding, and create a competitive grant program using a percentage of the collected user fees to improve the U.S. intermodal transportation system.

The Harbor Maintenance Tax makes it harder for U.S. ports to compete with the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia or the Port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, said Cantwell. The Federal Maritime Commission recently determined that up to 27 percent of container volume moving through West Coast ports is at risk of diverting to Prince Rupert, she said.

"That's why Sen. Murray and I are introducing this bill to fix our broken system. The inequality for our ports needs to end," said Cantwell.