Last September, two Washington senators and a handful of West Coast representatives asked the commissioners to analyze the impact of shippers stopping in Canada and then sending their goods by rail to the United States. Their primary concern involved a Harbor Maintenance Tax, which the government charges shippers to reimburse dredging costs. The report placed the average fee at $109 per 40-foot container. Canadian ports do not have a tax, instead relying on a commercially based user fee.
The report found that neither shippers nor carriers violated any laws by heading first to Canadian or Mexican ports. But it did highlight the Harbor Maintenance Tax among several factors that account for the rerouting of cargo in the Pacific Northwest.
The report did take a few jabs. It discounted the notion that transit times were shorter between Asia and some Canadian ports. And it pointed out a safety program that Prince Rupert Port has yet to implement.