House Republicans urge HMT exemption for short sea cargoes

Republican lawmakers from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee urged the Ways and Means Committee membership to pass legislation that would exempt shippers who use domestic ocean transport services from paying the harbor maintenance tax.

Under current law, all cargoes that are transported to a U.S. seaport are subject to HMT, a duty equal to 0.125 percent of a cargo's declared value.

Nor many short sea shipping operations, this means that the HMT is applied twice before the cargo reaches its destination -- once at the initial port of importation and again at the port of destination,?said a July 31 letter signed by 28 Republican committee members.

Several bills have been introduced during the 110th Congress to exempt the transport of cargo between domestic ports and, in some cases, between U.S. and Canadian ports in the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence Seaway from paying HMT. These bills sit before the House Ways and Means Committee.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican leaders, such as Rep. John L. Mica of Florida, Steve LaTourette of Ohio and John Boozman of Arkansas, said they want to eliminate as many barriers to short sea shipping programs as possible.

As a result of the HMT, volumes of domestically transported cargo by vessel are fairly low and revenues derived from the imposition of the HMT on such movements are miniscule as compared to receipts from international routes, the committee's Republicans said in their letter. The exemption of domestic vessel transportation from the HMT will not result in any significant loss in revenues, but it will promote alternatives to heavily congested rail and truck routes.

Source: American Shipper