The Economic Effects of Levying a Harbor User Charge on Waterborne Commerce

To the extent that any U.S. waterborne commerce would be affected by a user charge, the impacts created by such a charge would extend well beyond the change in the quantities of the goods moving through U.S. ports. The objective of this paper is to investigate the range and magnitude of these impacts. Toward this end, the analysis focuses on the changes that might have occurred in 1979 had the federal government then instituted a nationwide uniform charge of $0.25 per ton on cargo.