Americas News
Industry Calls for Marine Fuel Tax Hike to Support U.S. Inland Waterways
In a letter sent last week, agricultural and business groups called on the U.S. government to increase a fuel tax to fund construction and rehabilitation of the inland waterway system.
The organisations, including U.S. tugboat, towboat, and barge trade group the American Waterways Operators, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and dozens of agricultural associations, said the current 20 cent-per-gallon user fee should be increased to between 26 and 29 cents.
The fee is paid by 300 commercial operators that use the system and is matched by general treasury funds.
"Most of America's locks and dams were built in the 1920s and 1930s, yet are used to transport 21st century cargoes that fuel our modern economy," the groups said in the letter.
"This critical component of the transportation supply chain needs reinvestment and recapitalization."
The groups said improvements to the waterway infrastructure will help the U.S. take advantage of the Panama Canal expansion to increase trade.
Mike Toohey, president and CEO of the Waterways Council, told the Journal of Commerce that a one-cent increase in the tax would add up to about $4.1 million a year in construction funding.
