The association's president and CEO, Kurt Nagle, suggested that this ratio should change. "Infrastructure investments in America's seaports and their intermodal connections - both on the land and in the water - are in our nation's best interest because they provide opportunities to bolster our economy, create and sustain jobs, enhance our international competitiveness, and pay annual dividends through the generation of more than $321bn in federal, state and local tax revenue," he said.
Consulting economist John C. Martin said that the ports' investments were a major contributor to employment and economic activity in and of themselves, even before considering the $4.6tr that coastal ports contribute to the American economy each year.
