Most of the terminals at America's major ports are already foreign-owned, according to a senior official with the largest U.S.-owned ports operator, SSA Marine.
In an interview with National Public Radio on Sunday, SSA Vice President Bob Waters explained that there are 15 major ports in the U.S., comprising about 100 terminals.
We operate seven of those terminals," he said, adding that the next biggest American ports operator, Maher Terminals, manages one terminal.
A dozen additional terminals nationwide are managed by city or state governments.
"Other than that," said Waters, "the rest of the terminals, which comprise about 80 percent of those terminals we're talking about, are operated by foreign entities, primarily shipping lines."
Interviewed on the same program, Joe King, former chief of U.S. Customs' Terrorism Unit, noted that the government of Singapore owns most of a company that operates terminals in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Two Chinese companies, both with close ties to the Chinese government, manage terminals in New York, Long Beach, and other places, he said.
And the government of Venezuela owns all or part of marine terminal management at ports in Pennsylvania and Maine.
Asked if it was feasible for the relatively small U.S. ports industry to take over management of terminals that are currently foreign-owned - a position favored by Hillary Clinton and other port security critics - Peter Tirschwell, publisher of the Journal of Commerce, said no.
"It would be an extraordinary upheaval," he told NPR. "So large as to be difficult to even contemplate it."
I bet if you took a poll only 10% of the American people would know that 80% of our ports are run by other governments. Are we that lazy? Have we fallen so far?
We are letting things really get bad. We are going to be Rome in the next 50 years. We have let the environmentalists slow down our economy and prosperity by not allowing us to be energy independant. We don't make anything anymore. We really need to wake up.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
80% of U.S. Ports Already Foreign-Owned
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5 comments:
What I'm wondering is why we aren't managing our own ports? Is it really all that much harder/cheaper/less efficient to use American companies to manage American ports?
Oh, that's right, it's because our tax system and labor unions crush our businesses' ability to compete in the global free market.
This is a great question...like I said before...
All the restrictions, taxes, union rules, benefits packages, workers comp., sue happy lawyers have destroyed this countries ability to do anything productive anymore...
Hey guess what libs...if you keep trying to crush the evil corperations...tax 'em, sue 'em, unionize them, you won't have anyone to tax so you can have all your welfare programs...
Dude, what's wrong with Rome?
ummm...roman empire, used to be the superpower of the world...then they got lazy and let everyone else do their labor for them...not around anymore..
You mean the Roman Empire that split into 2 parts cuz it was so big, it couldnt effectively rule itself? The same Rome that was crippled by overzealous warmongers? The same Rome that incorrectly thought it would be a good idea to put all its power in the hands of a corrupt, right wing aristocracy? Outside of the Roman army, the whole system was foreigners because only a minority had citizen status. OK, I see your point. We are like Rome.
Oh, and on the army point, anyone else here besides me been in the military?
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