Chinese are enthusiastic about air cargo hub, but 'protectionism' could pose hurdles
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
January 21, 2010
by Tim Logan
CLAYTON -- Chinese officials are serious about launching air cargo flights to St. Louis, though thorny trade issues may pose a barrier, Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond told members of the Midwest China Hub Commission on Wednesday.
Bond was just back from a four-day visit to China, taken in his role on a new commission designed to build links between the U.S. Senate and that country's legislators, and the top item for his agenda on the trip was the still-progressing talks about building an air freight hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Bond told the commission, a group of civic leaders that is spearheading the effort, that Chinese interest remains high, the head of China's National People's Congress said that the hub project was "a priority" for him, and top aviation officials will direct Chinese airlines to study the matter seriously.
"The Chinese are all for this," he said.
But, Bond noted, he heard one warning again and again: "It has to be commercially viable."
And that is where things start to get sticky.
To work financially, there must be demand for flights going both ways. One Midwestern export that local leaders think has potential to fill China-bound cargo holds is food. Particularly beef and pork.
But China has banned U.S. beef imports since 2003, and pork since H1N1 flared up last summer. Meat safety issues may be overblown, but the U.S. has been tough on Chinese imports, too, especially of poultry. Opening that market, Bond said, may prompt China to return the favor.
"Protectionism is still an issue on both sides here," he said. "We hurt ourselves when we banned (Chinese) poultry and tires last spring."
Tapping the Chinese market for beef would be a huge opportunity for Missouri farmers, Bond said. He wasn't too concerned about the impact Chinese chicken might have on poultry farmers.
"I'm not worried about Tyson," he said, referring to the nation's second-largest chicken producer. "Tyson's going to do OK."
The dicey dynamics of agricultural exporting will have an impact on the hub project, local leaders running it acknowledge. But they also acknowledge there's little they can do about them. The key, said Hub Commission Chairman Mike Jones, is making sure St. Louis is in position to benefit when the picture clears up.
"Somebody else is going to solve the politics of beef and poultry," he said. "We just need to be ready to do business when that happens."
So the commission is moving ahead with a $900,000 study it launched in December on demand for two-way trade between St. Louis and China. It expects to know in about five months if the project is feasible, and hopes to have flights in place by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, talks with Chinese officials will continue, too. Local leaders are mulling more trips to China this spring, and will host Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong in St. Louis and Jefferson City in early February.
