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Tit for tat US-China trade tariffs will impact major US ports: Fitch Ratings
来源： 编辑：编辑部 发布：2018/04/09 09:31:06
THE alarm has been raised by Fitch Ratings that proposed tariffs by US President Donald Trump's administration will negatively impact US ports that handle large volumes of steel and aluminium. However, it says the reverberations will take years to materialise.
Steel and aluminium are important cargoes at US ports on the Gulf, east and west coasts and the Great Lakes. Top steel gateways include Houston, Mobile, New Orleans, Delaware River terminals, Brownsville in Texas, and several ports in the Pacific northwest and Great Lakes, reported IHS Media.
Alabama's port of Mobile handles five million tonnes of steel annually and the port of Houston handled 3.7 million tonnes of steel in 2017. At the port of New Orleans, steel accounts for one-third of the general cargo volume.
Most steel and aluminium shipments move as breakbulk cargo, but US ports handled 282,995 TEU of containerised steel and aluminium from all countries last year, PIERS data shows.
The ratings agency said a trade row between the US and China combined with higher interest rates will not likely hurt growth for major transportation segments for freight and passenger.
Fitch's statement came as the industry is adopting a wait and see attitude to the impact of China's move to raise import duties on a US$3 billion list of US pork, apples and other items in retaliation to the US tariff hike on steel and aluminium. China's tariff hike would affect 85,000 TEU of US containerised exports, according to PIERS.
Ports with the largest shares of China-bound exports in 2017 covered by the tariffs were Los Angeles with 13,424 TEU last year; Oakland, 19,999 TEU; Long Beach, 10,798 TEU; and New York, 9,053 TEU.
Commodities for which China threatened retaliatory tariffs made up 3.1 per cent of the 2.8 million TEU in total US containerised exports to China in 2017. Aluminium scrap was the highest volume of those commodities, with 48,192 TEU last year. Pork and pork products were second at 18,644 TEU, followed by fruits and nuts at 15,887 TEU.
Steel and aluminium are important cargoes at US ports on the Gulf, east and west coasts and the Great Lakes. Top steel gateways include Houston, Mobile, New Orleans, Delaware River terminals, Brownsville in Texas, and several ports in the Pacific northwest and Great Lakes, reported IHS Media.
Alabama's port of Mobile handles five million tonnes of steel annually and the port of Houston handled 3.7 million tonnes of steel in 2017. At the port of New Orleans, steel accounts for one-third of the general cargo volume.
Most steel and aluminium shipments move as breakbulk cargo, but US ports handled 282,995 TEU of containerised steel and aluminium from all countries last year, PIERS data shows.
The ratings agency said a trade row between the US and China combined with higher interest rates will not likely hurt growth for major transportation segments for freight and passenger.
Fitch's statement came as the industry is adopting a wait and see attitude to the impact of China's move to raise import duties on a US$3 billion list of US pork, apples and other items in retaliation to the US tariff hike on steel and aluminium. China's tariff hike would affect 85,000 TEU of US containerised exports, according to PIERS.
Ports with the largest shares of China-bound exports in 2017 covered by the tariffs were Los Angeles with 13,424 TEU last year; Oakland, 19,999 TEU; Long Beach, 10,798 TEU; and New York, 9,053 TEU.
Commodities for which China threatened retaliatory tariffs made up 3.1 per cent of the 2.8 million TEU in total US containerised exports to China in 2017. Aluminium scrap was the highest volume of those commodities, with 48,192 TEU last year. Pork and pork products were second at 18,644 TEU, followed by fruits and nuts at 15,887 TEU.