Sequestration Likely to Slow Cargo Movement, Warns Airforwarders Association, Others

The threat of sequestration could mean a slowdown in the movement of goods as agencies pare back on operations necessary to facilitate international trade, said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association. "Airforwarders Association members routinely depend upon Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection resources to maintain a smooth flow of goods without disruption," he said by email. "Sequestration will result in the slowing of shipments at airports and seaports since both agencies play a vital role in cargo security and shipment processing. An absence of the necessary staff to perform these vital functions would certainly have an adverse impact not only on the freight transportation industry but also on our nation's commerce."

Sequestration is widely expected to create difficulties for international trade. (See ITT's Online Archives 12091723 for summary of potential impacts of the government cuts.)

"In our view, these agencies are underfunded anyway, given the magnitude of their responsibilities, so sequestration would only make things worse generally," said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council. He told us it will be difficult to predict how ports would be affected without knowing how CBP and ICE would implement the cuts.

The American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) will be watching the issue closely, though much remains uncertain about the impact, said AAEI President Marianne Rowden. "The more important question about the cuts is what the agencies do to implement the cuts," she said. For example, the "report provides for a sequester amount of $27 million out of a base allocation of $329 million for Automation Modernization. How CBP chooses to implement that $27 million cut is what is critical."