| Tariffs, most economists would agree, act to restrict imports of the item targeted by the border tax. A US tariff on Chinese-made port cranes will be indiscriminate — hurting exports as well as imports, and boosting costs for the government, companies and consumers. That's the argument from US seaports, which are urging the Biden administration to rethink a proposed 25% duty on Chinese-made gantry cranes. Such a tax would add more than $130 million in unexpected costs and disadvantage them against rivals in Canada and Mexico, the industry says. In letters to the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai last week, ports in California, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia said there are no viable alternatives to Chinese cranes. They're asking for a delay or withdrawal of the tariff plans that are part of USTR's 301 case against China. "The tariff, if imposed, will not meet its stated objectives," Cary Davis, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities, wrote in a letter Friday. "Instead, it will only result in negative outcomes, including grave harm to port efficiency and capacity, strained supply chains, increased consumer prices and a weaker US economy." Read More: Biggest US Ports Chase Elusive Share of Asia's Shifting Exports The association said that it knows of seven domestic ports that are under contract to buy at least 35 Chinese ship-to-shore cranes. Using an average price per crane of $15 million, the tariff will create additional costs to the port operators totaling $131.3 million, the association said. That means the tariffs will either discourage expansion plans or force cuts to existing projects, it said. Among the threats that the cranes pose, according to the Biden administration, is the potential for cyber intrusions or spying, but the ports said there are safeguards in place to prevent such attacks and other agencies looking into those threats. Longer Waits Barbara Melvin, head of South Carolina Ports, said that as East Coast ports are trying to be more competitive against their rivals in Mexico and Canada, "this cost will translate to longer wait times and increased dwell times for visiting container ships." The Port of Houston had a problem with the proposed tariff, too, saying slower dockside operations combined with older, higher-polluting cranes will hurt environmental sustainability efforts. Read More: US Industries Fearing a Port Strike Urge Biden to Revive Talks Port Tampa Bay said it's unlikely American-made ship-to-shore cranes will be available anytime soon. Germany and Finland produce a small amount of them, but they "source many of these components from China and Russia, making their products subject to the 25% tariff," Paul Anderson, Tampa's president and CEO, said in a letter. Long Beach Container Terminal, a privately owned terminal operator at California's Port of Long Beach, sent a five-page letter laying out several reasons for its opposition to the crane tariff, including an argument that doing so exceeds USTR's authority. "Nowhere in Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 does USTR appear to possess the authority to add tariffs to new classes of products during a four-year review," Bryan Naefke, director of LBCT, wrote in a letter. "Indeed, to do so without the opportunity for an appropriate Section 301 hearing would reckless." Related Reading: —Brendan Murray in London Click here for more of Bloomberg.com's most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping. | 
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