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Issue 8 2018 - FBJNA


///WASHINGTON


Washington looks to trade By Peter Buxbaum


Ever since President Donald Trump started proposing tariffs on imports into the United States,


the general


assumption has been that this policy would hurt U.S. international trade, and specifically those sectors that would be directly impacted by those levies. As it turns out, that ain’t necessarily so. A more nuanced view of


the situation, at least from the perspective of the Port of Everett in Washington state, is


that uncertainty, rather than tariffs, has been responsible for suppressing trade. Everett, which specializes in high, heavy, and oversize shipments like projects, among other breakbulk cargoes, saw a substantial slowdown in project cargo volumes for a year and half, and up until recently. “What we have seen is that


trade uncertainty makes people hesitant to pull the trigger on investments,”


said Lisa Lefeber, the acting CEO and executive director of the Port of Everett. “Now that they understand that tariffs on certain cargoes


may be inevitable, there is more certainty and more of a willingness to invest.” That explains the recent surge of projects, both


exports and “We have seen is that trade


uncertainty makes people hesitant to pull the trigger on investments.


Now that they understand that tariffs on certain cargoes may be inevitable, there is more certainty and more of a willingness to invest.”


– Lisa Lefeber, Port of Everett.


imports, transiting the Port of Everett, according to Lefeber. The State of Washington


is perhaps the most trade- dependent state in the union, with at least one-third of all jobs somehow tied to trade. So it’s no wonder that the Trump administration’s dramatic shifts in trade policy are being closely followed in the state, along with the retaliatory measures being imposed by a host of trading partners. “I


have heard from


c o m pani e s that stand to


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