Prince Rupert is hardly the place one would expect to find an international gateway that’s weathering the Trump trade storm better than any other Pacific port in North America.
There’s just one bakery in the town of 12,000 people tucked away in a misty corner of western Canada. The local Walmart outlet is affectionately known as “Smallmart.” Shuttered storefronts on its main street are obstinate reminders of the collapse of its pulp and fishing industries more than a decade ago.
Yet this rainy outpost in British Columbia is the continent’s fastest growing port for trans-Pacific trade. In the first half of 2018, Prince Rupert’s container volumes surged by 19% from the same period last year, more than any other major gateway for Asian trade in the United States, Canada or Mexico.
“I would rather call these hiccups,” Maksim Mihic, head of Canada for Dubai-based marine operator DP World Ltd., said of the Trump trade war. His company paid C$580 million ($442 million) three years ago to buy Fairview, Prince Rupert’s upstart container terminal that has been snatching market share from rival ports such as Seattle-Tacoma and Los Angeles. “Whenever you have a trade barrier, there’s opportunity — the market will find a way.”
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