Tracking Trade

”Bill Would Create Port Fund from Harbor Tax”
May 25, 2009, Journal of Commerce

Harbor Maintenance Tax to create a fund for state highway, rail and port projects. The National Goods Movement Fund also would aim to mitigate environmental damage from freight transportation and improve cargo inspections and port security.

Sponsored by Rep. Laura Richardson, D- Calif., the” Making Opportunities Via Efficient and More Effective National Transportation Act of 2009 “the MOVEMENT Act” calls for an increase in the HMT, an ad valorem tax, from 0.125 percent to 0.4375 percent of the value of cargo arriving at a port. Goods originating in Mexico or Canada would not be taxed, although cargo moving through the country would be assessed at 0.315 percent of value. Richardson proposed a similar bill last year that would have funded infrastructure projects with a $50-per-container fee. Richardson estimated the bill would raise $2.7 billion a year, 90 percent of which would go to infrastructure. It also would remove bureaucratic barriers to accessing harbor maintenance fees, a problem that has \ long frustrated harbor authorities.