Panama Canal Research Paper

Words: 679
Pages: 3

The Panama Canal has been a crucial component of worldwide trade for the United States and surrounding countries. Since its conception, the United States has led the world in cargo passing through the canal, with nearly 13,000 cargo ships in transit in the year 2011. However, as the international trade demand has expanded, so has the need for larger ships to carry more cargo. Thus, the Panama Canal is to be expanded to accommodate larger ships. The expansion will also open up new import and export markets for agricultural products and more. Due to the third set of locks being built, port cities on the East and West Coasts as well as global cities are in competition for trade, as the more cargo is available, the more money they can make. However, as with any large scale infrastructure, the environment surrounding the canal is impacted by the increased emissions of the ports and the ships themselves. The expansion of …show more content…
The cities make their profits by the capacity of cargo they can process, inciting a competition between the coasts over where the new influx of cargo will be shipped. The West coast ports are large enough for the ships to pass through, but are not deep enough to bring the ships in to unload cargo. To stay competitive, the East coast port authorities are creating projects to widen and deepen their harbors. They hope this will draw business away from the West coast ports and increase revenue from Asian trade. The East Coast and Gulf Coast areas are also implementing railway expansions to adapt to the escalated mass of cargo. These railways will make it easier to transport the cargo as well as make the transport system more widespread. Since Asian trade is a crucial source of income for the country, the expansion of the Panama Canal will affect every individual merchant, city’s economy, and overall the U.S.