California port stakeholders demand that state government keep gateways competitive

When the Port of Los Angeles’ Executive Director Gene Seroka discusses June cargo volumes, forecasts and other developments in maritime global trade tomorrow, the news can’t come soon enough for many California stakeholders. 

In a recent letter to state governor Gavin Newsom signed by trade associations representing a broad cross-section of the California economy, “robust” movement of goods throughout the state cannot be understated. 

These include industries such as retail, manufacturing, agriculture, aerospace, and logistics. 

According to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) these industries support 1 in 3 jobs in California and 1.6 million trade-related jobs in Southern California, generating direly needed tax revenue, and services the state’s critical industries. 

In the Port of Oakland alone, agricultural items totaled $13.75 billion which accounted for nearly 70% of the port’s total exports last year. Moreover, the sector ensures that critical supplies can be available during the current crisis. 

As reported in LM, the Port of Savannah recently became the top port in the nation for the export of containerized agricultural goods.

“We are requesting that Governor Newsom and the Legislature consider the importance of California’s goods movement industry sector and take action to reverse the decline in market share before California permanently loses jobs and direly needed state revenue,” says the PMSA.

The letter  proposes that state government takes the following steps to address the major causes of the loss of market share: 

*Promote California ports as the most efficient and environmentally progressive ports in the nation. 
 

*Meet the challenge from East and Gulf Coast states whose governmental leaders promote and invest in their ports and goods movement industries. 

*Re-examine the state and regional regulations that are creating a disincentive to use California gateways. 

*Determine whether the policies, particularly in environmental areas, are backfiring and encouraging more greenhouse gas emissions by sending more business to ports that are far behind California’s climate program. 

*Reconcile state laws encouraging environmental and efficiency mandates with the need to re-train workers to adapt to a changing work environment. 

“We look forward to working with you to ensure the competitiveness of our ports and to recapture lost market share,” says PMSA president, John McLaurin.