Appointed Federal Commissioner by Donald Trump in September Maritime Commission, a position for which the last January 6, perhaps because it has not been able to sufficiently to publicly express gratitude to the US president, yesterday Laura DiBella praised the issue of the Presidential Executive Order to "Restore the American maritime domain" which dates back to last April ( of 10 April 2025). To tell the truth, he did it in a "bipartisan" form, with a statement also signed by Max Vekich, Commissioner of the federal agency appointed by former President Joe Biden as well as member of the Democratic Party.

DiBella and Vekich praised the federal government for taken measures to prevent the 'loophole' by which Canadian and Mexican ports would take goods away from those Americans. "The issue - they specified - today is urgent as new projects are planned in Canada and Mexico port development that could lead to the closure of port terminals in the United States. The implementation of Section 6 - they specified, referring to the presidential executive order - would eliminate the artificial cost advantage that is undermining our economy and helping to justify these projects".

Section 6 of the Executive Order focuses on the collection of U.S. port maintenance fee, and provides that, "in order to prevent carriers of goods from evade the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) on imported goods through the practice of landing in Canada or Mexico and sending their goods to the United States across land borders, and To ensure the collection of other charges, where applicable, the Secretary of Homeland Security will adopt all the necessary measures, including the proposal of new laws, such as permitted by law to: require all goods of origin foreign arriving by ship to carry out customs clearance procedures Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a port of entry of the United States for security reasons and for the collection of all duties, customs duties, taxes, taxes, interest and other applicable charges; and ensure that any cargo of foreign origin that arrives for the first time via ship to North America, after passing CBP procedures in an inland location from the land transit country (Canada or Mexico), is subject to customs duties, taxes, fees, (including HMF), interest and other applicable charges, plus a 10% service fee for additional costs to be paid provided that the cargo shipped to the United States does not substantially changes in relation to its terms and conditions time of arrival in the country of land transit (with the discretion that such decisions are taken by CBP)".

DiBella and Vekich denounced that "for almost two years Canadian ports have been gaining market share for decades damage to our country". To corroborate their thesis, they have reported the results of the "Study of U.S. Inland Containerized Cargo Moving Through Canadian and Mexican Seaports" published in 2012 by the FMC which, they said, "has noted that if the Canadian advantage over the Harbor Maintenance Fee, was eliminated, up to half of the containers to the United States arriving at the ports of the coast Western Canadian could return to using the ports Americans. The same dynamic - they specified - applies to Mexican ports having also attracted more and more goods which would otherwise transit through US ports".

The study they refer to, however, explains that they are There are numerous factors behind the choice of some carriers seafarers to use the services of Canadian or Mexican ports rather than US ports, i.e. a containment of shipping costs, risk mitigation through Diversification of ports, perceived advantages in terms of time transit fees, avoidance of HMF port maintenance fee, and differences in rail transport fares.

While the 2012 FMC study attributes the diversion to Canadian or Mexican ports of a quota of goods destined for or coming from the USA, last October the Canadian Federal Transport Canada has highlighted that if of It is a hijacking, this quota is minimal. The agency noted that the steady growth of Asian markets has offered numerous opportunities for North American companies and for North American ports and noted that if the consequent Increased containerized shipping traffic has had an impact Out of all three countries, the vast majority (74%) of goods acquired by North American ports in the last decade has been acquired by US ports and this - specified Transport Canada - is not unexpected given the size of the US market which is five times greater than that of Canada and Mexico combined.

'Contrary to any assertion that the Canada is reportedly experiencing a "hijacking" of goods to its ports, the level of imports of U.S. containerized cargo through Canadian ports in percentage of total U.S. port traffic remains marginal, with an average of less than 2.5% over the last decade. In the Canadian imports transiting through ports accounts for a larger share of domestic traffic Canada, which is at least three times the average for U.S. goods transiting through Canadian ports. In short, the ports manage a substantially larger percentage of Canada-bound containerized goods vs. Canada-bound containerized goods in the United States".

"The fact remains that the Canadian and U.S. ports have been and remain key players in an integrated North American market. To varying degrees, our seaports handle a portion of their respective goods containerized (inbound and outbound) and, as such, offer to North American business-oriented companies and companies a range of options to diversify their supply chains, minimise risks, avoid the congestion and reach the desired market in the most efficient and effective".

I am obviously not of the same opinion as two commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission, who said they were anxious that the Section 6 be applied 'to completely close the loophole at the borders". According to DiBella and Vekich, "this halt the haemorrhage of maritime jobs towards the Canada and Mexico and will create new opportunities for work for U.S. dockers, truck drivers and other operators, providing the U.S. shipping industry with the impetus absolutely necessary".