As expanded trade talks between the United States and South Korea continue, Port of Tampa officials are looking to benefit.
According to the International Trade Administration, the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement (KORUS Agreement) is an integral part of efforts to increase opportunities for U.S. businesses, farmers and workers through improved access for their products and services in foreign markets.
That includes Tampa.
Leaders from various U.S. ports were on a conference call with the White House earlier this week to discuss legislation meant to give Congress more authority in trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, Port of Tampa officials are meeting with Korean officials Thursday to talk about expanding ties.
"The port is a huge economic engine for the entire (Bay area) region," said Alexis Muellner with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "In the last couple years it’s really been trying to increase its business in containers, which is really where the money is."
Tampa's port is one of the nation's most diverse seaports, bringing in everything from cargo to cruise ships. As one of the top economic drivers in West Central Florida, the port is responsible for about 80,000 jobs and a $15 billion economic impact each year, port officials said.
Ultimately, that affects the entire Bay area and its residents.
"You think about businesses that are focused on marine and transport of goods, those are specific to the port," Muellner said. "But if you take that out and project it to the ways those businesses touch other businesses, and the business to business synergies that happen in that whole realm, having a strong business growth for the port in the areas for which they’re focused on, which is automobiles and light manufacturing, and this container business which they’ve been working to grow for many years, really lifts all of us."