Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington says keeping the pressure on Vladimir Putin could help end the war in Ukraine.
Cantwell says Congress is generally unified across the aisle when it comes to continued support for Ukraine. With Russia’s continued bombing of civilian sites, Cantwell also supports the President’s declaration that Putin is a war criminal.
She says there are always opportunities for diplomacy, but the Senator says the U.S. and the world need to continue with and be more aggressive with using their economic might to undermine Putin. Cantwell says, “I signed on very early to say that we’re not going to give them preferential treatment and status as it relates to trade and the ‘Most Favored Nation’. We have to focus on taking things that they get access to our markets for their economy.
Meanwhile, with gas prices through the roof, Cantwell calls on oil companies to help bring them down.
The idea of a federal gas tax holiday has been floated to help ease the burden at the pump, but it’s probably a pipe dream. Cantwell says not only is the U.S. working with its global partners to see about boosting the oil supply but that the Senate Commerce Committee has summoned oil company executives to come talk about how they can contribute to that. That hearing is expected sometime in the next few weeks.
A lot of people also feel like there’s a bit of price gouging going on, but Cantwell reiterated that oil companies can do their part to help increase the available supply and bring prices down.
Northwest Newsradio spoke with Senator Cantwell at an event at the Northwest Seaport Alliance, where they announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that involves using Port of Seattle Terminal 46 as a staging area for shipping containers.
The shipping backlog has been caused by several factors, including increased demand for products and a nationwide shortage of truck drivers. The windows for getting products on to ships are getting shorter, and when producers can’t get their products to ports quickly enough, the ships will take on empty containers for the return to Asia. That’s lead to a drop in exports of more than 25%, which translates to billions of dollars in lost sales to overseas markets.
By using the terminal to stage empty containers, it allows truckers to get in and out with them more quickly, which means more trips to and from eastern Washington to pick up agricultural goods. Those containers are then returned to staging areas at Northwest ports so they’re ready to go when their turn for placement on a ship comes.
That means more of Washington’s top agricultural products, like hay, apples, peas and lentils, and frozen potato products can head overseas. When they don’t, Asian stores will get them from other suppliers, which means not only lost sales but possibly longer-term losses if those stores sign contracts with suppliers they feel are more reliable and less likely to leave them with empty shelves.
The profit margins on agricultural products are among the thinnest for all goods, with shipping issues adding to farmers’ costs. The U.S.D.A. is offering incentives of $200 dollars for dry goods containers and $400 for refrigerated containers stored at these staging areas to help offset some of these costs.
