Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1991)

Waterways Conference Delegates

Urge Maritime Industry To Lobby

For Repeal Of Shipping Taxes

Shipping leaders at the recent annual meeting of the National Wa- terways Conference, charging that the U.S. Government might be tax- ing the maritime industry out of the global marketplace, called for an uprising to force repeal of recent user fee increases.

Panelists at the National Water- ways Conference, after detailing a dozen separate maritime user fees recently enacted or increased by

Congress, urged the maritime in- dustry to take action. Ostensibly, the new or enlarged fees pay for such things as Coast Guard ser- vices, dredging of shipping chan- nels, and inspection of vessels for possible insect pests. Many of them were enacted last year as part of a wide-ranging deficit reduction pack- age.

A shipping company president, two port officials and Harry N.

Cook, president of the National Wa- terways Conference, were included in the panelists who called for a stepped-up lobbying effort against the fees. Comdr. Bruce A. Russell, a USCG official responsible for implementing the new user fees, was also on hand. He limited his presentation to a series of slides explaining Coast Guard plans and acknowledged one hostile ques- tion—"Why should we pay for ser- vice we don't want?"—with the sug- gestion, "Talk to your Congress- man."

The president of Biehl & Co.,

Don Waheed, charged that the nation's competitive position in world trade has been weakened by imposition of excessive user fees imposed against the maritime in- dustry.

Acting director at the Port of

Houston, Tom Kornegay, told the group that new fees and taxes have resulted in a very noncompetitive situation for U.S. ports. He said a typical ship will now pay about $80,000 in total fees. He joined others in warning that these fee increases have come at a time when other nations like Canada stand poised to take more shipping busi- ness away from the U.S.

Pat A. Younger, legislative af- fairs manager for the Port of Hous- ton, listed these 12 new taxes and fees that should target for repeal or reduction: • Harbor maintenance tax, which more than tripled last year, to 0.125 percent of the value of in- ternational cargo handled at U.S. ports. •Vessel tonnage tax, raised more than 350 percent, to a maximum of 27 cents a ton of vessel capacity. •Coast Guard user fees. •Customs user fee. •A $544 fee collected by the Agri- culture Department Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service from each incoming ship—even when no inspection is performed. •Federal Grain Inspection Ser- vice fee. •Ship passenger international departure tax. •The 4 percent transportation revenue tax. •Various navigation fees. •State and local user fees. •Section 404 permits. •LUST—the leaking under- ground storage tank tax, amount- ing to one cent a gallon on most fuels used on inland waterways.

The National Waterways Con- ference is a trade group represent- ing companies involved in U.S. do- mestic water transportation.

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November, 1991 19