b'2American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comPort of Brownsville gets boost from USMCABy Tad Thompson, AJOT thananyotherUSMCA TRADE 2022International trade throughintoMexico the Port of Brownsville, TX,U.S. seaport. is booming. In 2021, the ever-growing Eduardo Campirano, CEO,steelsectorattheport and port director, notes that theregisteredarecordof4.3 COVIDyear,2020,provedmillion tons of steel products to be the most successful inmoved.Thisvolume,which Brownsvilleslongcargoismostlyshippedbyrail, history.isnotinfinishedproducts, Weoperated24-7andbutBraziliansteelslabs, we continue to do what we didandotherproductsgoto in 2020, he said. For 2021,Monterreysteelmillsfor cargotonnageamountedtoproductionofavarietyof 13.8milliontons,breakinggoods including automobiles 2020s record of 11.6 million. andappliances.Finished ForBrownsvillesfinalproducts often come into the tallyin2022,evengreaterU.S. through the landport of numbersareanticipated,Laredo, TX. with yet more cargo tonnageFor2022,Brownsville expected in 2023.(BOOSTcontinued onPharr International Bridge, which is owned and operated by the City of Pharr, TX, is the US largest land bridge TheNorthAmericanpage 6) for receiving fresh Mexican Produce. FreeTradeAgreement,signed in1994,wasgoodfor Brownsvillestrade.The subsequentUnitedStates-Mexico-CanadaAgreement, whichwentintoeffectJuly 1, 2020, was also a positive, Campiranosaid.Idont knowifitchangedour dynamics, but it hasnt hurt. He stressed Brownsvilles positionupontheGulfof MexicoattheU.S.-Mexico border was recognized centuries ago as an ideal international trade site.Today,Brownsvilleis the bullseye as a trade center across the Rio Grande River, andasaglobalplayerfor tradethroughthePanama Canal, and with Latin America andcountlesstrans-Atlantic opportunities. None of these opportunities have been lost on Brownsville management leaders. But already, products from every continent pass through Brownsvilles Free Trade Zone Number 62.But Campirano said most of his ports cargo tonnage is exports, with that majority is movingcargointoMexico, serving industrial towns such asMonterreyandSanLuis Potosi. Ourproximityimpacts southTexas,butweplaya significantpartinnorthern Mexico logistics, he added. Muchofwhatweimport isexportedtoMexico, with a substantial volume of those imports being shipped upstreamRioGrandeland bridges, such as Pharr or Los Indios, Texas.Campiranonotedthat Brownsvillehaslongbeen the deepest port on the U.S. Gulf, with a 42-foot channel. To serve the largest ships now traversing Panamas deepened canal,Brownsvilleisnow dredging to 52-feet.H eavyI ndustrIalP roductM ovesCampirano said Brownsville movesmoreimportedsteel'