b'14American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(TPPcontinued from page 13) forward with CPTPP, the U.S. is beingAfter a slow start in 2020, denied the preferential tariff treatment tPP g oes froMc enterPiece to andexpandedmarketaccessthat d ustBin nations such as Australia and CanadaPort of Nansha comes through The TPP, for its part, was designedare receiving in the region. as a centerpiece of the U.S. strategica sia -P acifice conoMicsl esson with a strong finishpivot toward the Asia-Pacific but the idea was dumped in the dustbin withTheAsia-Pacificregionalecon- With first quarter volumes down,saw volumes grow again for the 15th the Trump Administrations lone wolfomy represents 40% of current globalPortofNanshacomesracingbackyear in a row. Year over year growth approach to global trade. GDPandwillinclude66%ofthewith positive gains. North Americansince 2004 reflects the ongoing migra-During negotiations, Obama empha- globalmiddle-classpopulationbytrade is up 55.7%. tion of the GPAs manufacturing to the sized that he wanted the U.S. to write2030,accordingtotheOrganizationThe Port of Nansha, the only deepwestern side of the Pearl River Delta. the rules of the road for trade in the 21stfor Economic Cooperation and Devel- sea port on the west bank of the PearlThePortsgrowthisafeatureofthe century.Fiveyearslater,duringtheopment (OECD). The U.S. ChamberRiverDelta,locatednorthofHongGPAs own expansion, as the economies recent political campaign, Biden echoedof Commerce has said that the U.S.Kongintheregionknownasthein the cities of Guangzhou and Shen-those words, telling the Council on For- isbeingleftbehindinthevitalGreater Bay Area (GBA)started slowzhen have matured from manufacturing eign Relations, When it comes to trade,Asia-Pacific region. but finished strong in 2020. There washubs to urban centers. Like Hong Kong, either were going to write the rules ofThe Trump administration optedno doubt the first quarter last year forthese cities now boast a large number of the road for the world or China is. WhentoconcludebilateralpactssuchasPort of Nansha was down like most ofconsumers, and imports of perishables we backed out of TPP, we put China inthe U.S.-Japan trade agreement. Thatthe industry. But the Port of Nansha,and consumer products are growing at the drivers seat. Thats not good for ouraccordattemptedtoreplicatesomepartoftheGuangzhouPortGroupdoubledigitratesbuildingatwo-way national security or for our workers. of the benefits the U.S. would have(GPG),eruptedoverthenextthreetrade for the Port of Nansha.BidenacknowledgedthatTPPenjoyedifTrumphadntwithdrawnquarters to remain as the fifth largestTo keep up with demand, Nansha wasnt perfect, but, he added, the ideathe U.S. from the TPP. But its eco- port in the world with 23.51 millionplansanexcitingyearaheadwith behind it was a good one: to unite coun- nomicbenefitspalebycomparisonTEUs, up 1.2% vs 2019. Notably, vol- theopeningoftheirOnDockRail tries around high standards for workers,with the TPP, and it did nothing onumes to and from North America hadSystem, A State of the Art Eight-Story theenvironment,intellectualproperty,the diplomatic front to curb Chinasgrown 55.7% over 2019.ColdLogisticsFacility,350,000m and transparency, and use our collectiveinfluence in regional politics, nor itsNanshan, which generates approxi- s3DryWarehouseFacility,andthe weight to curb Chinas excesses. (TPPcontinued on page 16) mately 75% of the total GPG volume,opening of their 4th Terminal. Any Biden move to rejoin TPP may catch some flak from the political left over labor and environmental standards, although provisions in those areas were included in the agreement. Sen. Bernie Sanders(I-Vt.)complainedthatTPP disadvantaged U.S. workers, telling the same CFR forum that it would force moreAmericanworkerstocompete with desperate workers in Vietnam who make less than a dollar an hour.AndasPeterFriedmann,Wash-ington-DCbasedCounselforthe Coalition for New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) recently wrote, Trump tariffs by executive order, but he has not. Thats not surprising; after all, during the past three years, not one Democrat or Republican in the House or Senate introduced any bill or amend-ment to rescind the tariffs. In fact, there wasandstillisbipartisansupport forthosetariffs,sotheywilllikely remain in place and continue to burden our trade relationships. Plus, the AFL-CIO, with significant clout in the Biden WhiteHouse,hasalreadydemanded that the tariffs against China remain in place, and that new tariffs be imposed on Vietnam.Addressing environmental issues, Sen.ElizabethWarren(D.-Mass) said she opposed entering into new trade agreements unless and until our potentialpartnersmeetcertainpre-conditions that match our values and our policy goals, including combating climate changeBidenandhisappointeeshave signaled that they intend to continue the Trump administrations hard line on China, but by taking a multilateral, ratherthanago-it-alone,approach. SecretaryofStateAntonyBlinken saidBidenwouldmaintain Trumps tougher approach to China, but by leading with diplomacy [and] mobi-lizing our friends and allies to work togetherincommoncause.Kurt Campbell,BidensnewIndo-Pacific coordinator on the National Security Council, emphasized, in an essay in Foreign Affairs, Bidens intention of working with U.S. allies to create a balance of power in the Asia-Pacific.Ontheeconomicfront,ithas become evident that the U.S. refusal under Trump to engage with the most dynamic part of the world economy left the country isolated and disadvan-taged. As the 11 other nations moved'