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From the Columbian:
A group representing grain shippers in the region, including United Grain Corp. at the Port of Vancouver, said Monday it expects to reach an agreement on a new labor contract with union dockworkers that will keep wheat, soybeans and corn flowing to markets.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to presume otherwise,” said Pat McCormick, spokesman for the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, a consortium of six Northwest grain shippers that operates under an agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
“Leveling the playing field and avoiding extreme competitive disparities among Northwest grain shippers and ports is vital,” according to the association’s statement.
Brad Clark, president of the ILWU Local No. 4 in Vancouver, declined to comment Monday, saying it wouldn’t be prudent during negotiations. “It’s better faith bargaining to leave it at the table,” he said.
Read the rest at the Columbian
Transparency has become an issue of the Pacific-region talks, with consumer, labor and environmental groups siding with some U.S. lawmakers who want participants to make their positions public.Dozens of groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and International Brotherhood of Teamsters met with negotiators during Pacific-region trade talks in Leesburg, Virginia, as protesters called for more openness in the discussions.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office conducted a “stakeholders’ forum” for interested groups at the latest round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an accord that would create the biggest trade zone in U.S. history.
About 150 representatives from some of those groups, including the Sierra Club, Public Citizen and the Communications Workers of America gathered on a grassy hillside after the event, where they called for proposals to be made public and chanted “Flush the TPP!”
“We want negotiators to release the text, to tell people what they’re proposing in our names,” Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of the Washington-based Citizens Trade Campaign and an organizer of the protest, said in an interview.
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The widened Panama Canal will definitely benefit the global shipping industry, but industry insiders differ as to the benefits for Hong Kong and mainland Chinese shippers.
Willy Lin Sun-mo, the chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council, said the benefits to local shippers would not be that great.
He said although bigger ships would be able to pass through the canal, the number would still be limited because of the limits of the lock system.
Lin estimated that Hong Kong and mainland shippers that did use the canal to reach the US east coast might save US$500 to US$600 per 40-foot equivalent units and save seven days of transport time.
“This may help China and Hong Kong exporters but the impact will not be very substantial and will depend on whether the shipments are time-sensitive,” he said.
Song said that in the short term the expansion would worsen the oversupply of global dry bulk shipping capacity. “There may be more idle time for ships, which is not good news for shippers,” he said.
Song said container shipping would benefit because of shorter travel times, which would lead to lower shipping costs. “But if the Panama Canal charges more...
Source: Denver Post
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