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International Cooperation Department
Tel.: (+86-21) 65853850-8034
Fax: (+86-21) 65373125
E-mail: ICDept@sisi-smu.org
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International Shipping |
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| FMC: Panama Canal is important to US economy |
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Date:2025-02-12 Readers:
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THE Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) chairman Louis Sola and Commissioner Daniel Maffei spoke before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about the operation, control, and expense of using the Panama Canal.
Mr Sola that the canal was vital waterway for maritime activity that benefits the US more than any other country.
"In excess of 40 per cent of US container traffic, valued at roughly US$270 billion annually, transits this waterway. Vessels of all sorts use the waterway to carry cargoes to and from the United States."
The FMC has legislative authority under the rules governing international shipping practices to investigate and perhaps take necessary counter-action if it discovers that a foreign country's laws or regulations have contributed to "conditions unfavourable to shipping in foreign trade."
The Panama Canal's reduced capacity, along with the de facto closure of the Suez Canal owing to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, had major ramifications for ocean commerce, including increased rates, taxes, and/or transit delays.
Without a solution, projections suggest that by 2050, the canal's capacity might drop by as much as 50 per cent, which would have severe effects on global trade and the US economy.
Said Mr Maffei: "As we learn more about how Panama and the Canal Authority would handle another drought crisis and receive more input from American importers and exporters, the Commission remains prepared to take any appropriate action, if warranted."
Said Mr Sola: "More than one-third of the US economy is tied to goods, commodities, and inputs that move by sea, and the Panama Canal is an indispensable part of the ocean-linked supply chains on which we are reliant.
"Safeguarding the viability of the Panama Canal for the coming century and beyond must be a priority we meet if we want to remain economically competitive," he said.
https://www.shippingazette.com/news?news_id=9250200000305 |
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