While the Pacific Northwest has the closest U.S. ports to Asian markets, the lack of a U.S. deepwater bulk shipping terminal is forcing American goods to be hauled over longer distances and dispatched from foreign ports in Canada and Mexico. This makes U.S. exports less competitive with those of other countries and sends jobs across the border.

SSA Marine’s proposed multi-commodity, dry bulk shipping terminal at Cherry Point, Washington addresses those challenges.

The terminal’s connection with the BNSF Railway will extend the benefits of the Gateway Pacific Terminal across the Northern Tier states all the way to Chicago. Farmers and resource producers across the upper Midwest will have a new, more efficient and cost-effective way to get their goods to Asian markets. BNSF has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its northern rail corridor and will make additional capacity improvements to its ‘expandable infrastructure’ as shipping volumes warrant.

Considered together, those investments will help capture export-related jobs now leaking across our borders and smooth the flow of goods from throughout the northern and western regions of the U.S.

The U.S. has set a goal to double exports in the next five years to strengthen the economy, improve the balance of trade, and create thousands of jobs. Washington State has a similar plan to boost state exports by 30 percent in the next five years.

The Gateway Pacific Terminal will help realize those goals – and help get America moving again.