Mike Lee Proposes Paring Back Protectionism to Address Port Woes

Colin GrabowOne unpleasant discovery for many Americans during 2021 has been thewoeful state of the country ’s ports, which have struggled to accommodate a deluge of demand for imported goods. To address these shortcomings, the Biden administration and much of Congress have —to the surprise of only the grossly naïve—largely centered their efforts around increased spending.Included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed last month was $17.1 billion for ports, of which more than $11.5 billion will be focused on new construction. That money, onearticle says, “appears set to literally reshape ports in the years ahead with projects on the docket like dredging to allow bigger boats to enter or allow more boats to dock at once.”Sen. Mike Lee (R ‑Utah) has a better idea of how to help the country ’s ports meet their dredging needs: remove outdated protectionism. Earlier this week Leeintroduced four bills that would either reform or repeal the Foreign Dredge Act.Passed in 1906, the Foreign Dredge Act restricts domestic dredging —the removal of sediment and debris from bodies of water (such as to deepen them to accommodate larger vessels)—to vessels that are U.S.-registered, U.S.-built and mostly U.S. owned and crewed. Shielding U.S. dredging firms from foreign competition means Americans must rely on a domestic fleet that is small, old, and expensive. The results range from costly coastal restorationprojects to the less efficient operati...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs