First appeared in USA Today
A projected surge in job-producing U.S. exports by 2020 will
not be realized unless the federal government spends more money to expand
congested ports, highways, railways and airports, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
says.
The mayors' group is meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., Friday
and Saturday to form a strategy for urging Congress to use savings from ending
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on infrastructure upgrades costing hundreds of
billions of dollars.
"If we're going to build bridges and roadways in
faraway lands, why don't we spend that money on long-term infrastructure growth
in the U.S.?" asks Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith.
That's what President Obama proposed in his budget early
this month, but the plan faces stiff resistance from Republicans in Congress
who say the country can't afford to add to the federal debt.
An IHS Global Insight report out today says U.S. exports are
expected to produce 40% of economic growth by 2020, up from 27% in the last
decade. Exports should grow 79% this decade to $3.2 trillion in 2020, IHS says.
It cites a weaker dollar, which makes U.S. products less expensive in some
countries, explosive growth in emerging markets such as China, and some
businesses moving manufacturing to the U.S.
IHS predicts that metro areas whose main trading partner is
China or India will have the sharpest growth, including: Portland, Ore.;
Bridgeport, Conn.; Salt Lake City; Greenville, S.C.; and Miami.
But local officials say growth will be limited if ports,
railways and roads aren't expanded:
- In Mesa, inadequate roads and rail lines at the Mexican border often delay by several days shipments of electronics, copper and produce to Mexico, Smith says.
- Ports in Jacksonville and other East Coast cities contain waters too shallow to accommodate the large ships best suited to transport the steel, machinery and other heavy-duty products that the U.S. exports, says Paul Anderson, CEO of the Jacksonville Port Authority. Dredging the ports would cost about $5 billion, he says.
- The intersection of highways and rail lines in Riverside, Calif., delays shipments to and from the Port of Long Beach, says Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Bob Foster. Rail lines must be elevated at a multibillion-dollar cost, he says.
- Within the next decade, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York will need a new runway to handle more cargo and additional rail lines must be built to area ports to speed deliveries, says Patrick Foye, head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
"We're in a fight for economic supremacy with
China," he says.
