Rep. Schrier, USDA Announce Pop-Up Container Yard at Port of Seattle to Ease Supply Chain Issues
ISSAQUAH, WA – Today Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) announced that because of her efforts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) will be partnering on a new pop-up container yard to ease congestion at the Port of Seattle. The 49-acre “pop-up” site will accept dry agricultural or refrigerated containers for temporary storage. The NWSA is the fourth-largest container gateway in the United States and according to the USDA, has seen nearly a 30% decline in export of agricultural goods in the last six months of 2021 and the ratio of loaded versus empty container exports has shifted to predominately empty containers since May 2021.
“Hay and fruit producers in the 8th district have been struggling with unreliable shipping companies, exorbitant holding and shipping fees, and severe backups at the ports. They were the canaries in the coal mine for the current supply chain crisis,” said Rep. Schrier. “One part of the solution is to ease congestion at the ports and get trucks back on the road. I discussed ‘pop-up’ ports with the Administration many months ago. As soon as I heard about the pop-up container yard in Oakland last month, I set up a meeting with Port Envoy Porcari to see how I could help get a similar pop-up container yard in Washington state.”
USDA’s partnership with the NWSA’s existing near-dock facility at Terminal 46 in Seattle is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Supply Chain Task Force efforts with state and local governments and builds on earlier efforts. USDA’s efforts to increase capacity at the NWSA follow the Department’s announcement on January 31, 2022, of a similar partnership with the Port of Oakland in California, and a US Department of Transportation partnership with the Port of Savannah in Georgia.
Rep. Schrier continued, “For over a year now, our exporters have had to wait on international shipping carriers to get their goods overseas. And oftentimes the shipping carriers are opting to take back empty containers. This leaves farmers unable to ship their goods, and customers empty-handed overseas, threatening trade relationships built over decades. This pop-up container yard will ensure that containers are at the port and ready to be loaded onto ships whenever they arrive, ensuring the agricultural goods get to market on time. We still need to do more to crack down on international shipping companies that gouge American exporters. But this is great news and I know it will be a relief for 8thDistrict farmers and producers.”
“The pandemic revealed vulnerabilities across our supply system and as the economy has made an historic recovery, it has put additional strain on the supply chain,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “The Biden-Harris Administration is calling out ocean carriers that are taking advantage of the situation to leverage undue profits and are treating U.S. agricultural companies and producers unacceptably. That is why we are using creative approaches to improve port operations while elevating American-grown food and fiber.”
About the Partnership
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will make payments to agricultural companies and cooperatives that preposition containers filled with American-grown agricultural commodities at the “pop-up” temporary site at the Port of Seattle. Specifically, FSA payments of $200 per dry container and $400 per refrigerated, or reefer, container will help cover additional logistical costs. The sign-up will be streamlined through a central application process with the details available in a Notice of Funding Availability that will be published in the coming weeks. Payments will be made in arrears and verified with the pop-up terminal records.
The benefits of relieving congestion and addressing capacity issues at ports through partnerships like this one at the NWSA go well beyond the local region, as commodities and agricultural products grown and processed from thousands of miles away flow through the Port. American farmers, ranchers, workers, rural communities and agricultural companies throughout the supply chain will benefit from efforts to restore and improve proper service by ocean carriers; and ultimately, getting safe, nutritious U.S.-grown products to consumers around the world.