Cabinet Members Praise Ports as Economic Drivers, Push for More Investment

American ports deserve more investment to help modernize and adapt to the growing volume of cargo, said Commerce Department Secretary Penny Pritzker, Labor Department Secretary Tom Perez and Transportation Department Secretary Anthony Foxx in a blog post (here). Those three visited Tradepoint Atlantic, an industrial development near the Port of Baltimore that made use of an abandoned steel mill, on March 8 to discuss infrastructure investment. During the visit, the government officials talked with leaders from ports, labor, shippers and retail companies about Federal government collaboration to build modern ports, it said.. "As a country, we are investing too little, and as container ships grow larger and larger, more cargo must be unloaded into increasingly tight spaces," they said. Such investments can improve U.S. port capacity and the new customs reauthorization law will mean more efficient enforcement of trade laws, they said. "We need to improve port efficiency now if we are going to maximize [the Trans Pacific Partnership's] ability to create more port-related jobs and ensure that more Made in America exports are shipped around the world," they said.