Cost of living across Alaska will spike next month as Anchorage Assembly tariffs passed to consumers

By
Suzanne Downing
-
130

Span Alaska announced that due to a tariff increase approved by the Anchorage Assembly for freight coming through the Port of Alaska, freight charges will increase by 7.5% starting in December. The company said that last year it absorbed the rate increase.

Span Alaska provides over-the-water freight via container ship from the Port of Tacoma in Washington state to the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, as well as provides barge service to Southeast Alaska.

“On July 25, 2023, the Anchorage Assembly passed Ordinance 2023-34, establishing the Port of Alaska Modernization Program (PAMP) Surcharge. It applies to all commodities shipped through the port of Alaska, including southbound shipments, and intra-state shipments to Kodiak and dutch Harbor. The per-ton fee became effective on January 1, 2024, and was collected as part of the Municipality’s financing plan for the construction of new cargo terminals. Ocean carriers pay this fee to the Port, and pass on the cost to shippers, including Span Alaska. Throughout the 2024 shipping season, Span Alaska absorbed this fee, without assessing our customers,” the company said. But now, it’s going to have to pass along the costs, because the Assembly just jacked the tariffs even more, and this will increase the cost of living to Alaskans who get their goods through the Port of Alaska.

“On November 6, 2024, the Anchorage Assembly approved an increase in tariffs to help pay for the Program. Effect January 1, 2025, the fee will increase from $.059 to $4.80/ton and from $9.50 per Container to $75.50 per Container on Full Loads. The Port of Alaska Commission will conduct ongoing reviews and adjustments to the fee, extending beyond 2025. This tariff increase will have a notable effect on shipments through the Port of Alaska, and as a result, Span Alaska will introduce a PAMP surcharge executive January 1, 2025.”

The general rate increase will be 7.5% more for all cargo, effective Dec. 15 and will include Central Alaska, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Southeast Alaska, and intrastate freight.

The higher cost of goods will be compounded by the fact that Ballot Measure 1 passed, which will increase all union wages across Alaska, a cost that will also be passed on to consumers.

130 COMMENTS

  3. Someone explain to me why the Port of Anchorage tariff should raise the shipping cost to southeast Alaska when those goods do not pass through the port. Was this a missprint on Span’s part? Lord knows that southeast rates are already unjustifiably high. Southeast rates have doubled or tripled since the AG approved ending of true competition.

    • It’s because of the Jones Act. There is no competition. Ocean freight is not subject to Anti-trust and companies are lawfully allowed to fix prices with their competition. The Senators of the affected states, (AK, HI and Puerto Rico, who must be paid off as there is no reason to allow this 1921 law) defend this law. If the law did not exist, Hawaii and Alaska would have one of the lowest shipping rates in the World, (Back hauling from the US to Asia is so cheap that the US could ship recyclables to China). Only John McCain, who I almost never agreed with, was the only Senator who has said to get rid of this law.

      • When people try to complain about the Jones Act, you hear so many inaccurate statements. Including yours. Shipping was deregulated 25+ years ago, and price-setting is illegal. And the Jones Act doesn’t set or regulate prices anyway.

        The Jones Act is a cabotage law, which 90+ other countries also have. The Act enforces that only US flagged, built and crewed ships can move cargo or people between two U.S. ports.

        I for one, do not want Alaska to be dependent on a communist Chinese shipping company moving food, supplies and military cargo from the lower 48 to Alaska. Nor would they. Their ships are much too large to even call any Alaskan port.

        US shipping lines can’t take cargo between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Only Chinese carriers can do that. Why should we let the Chinese and other hostile countries take over our shipping routes, including up and down the Mississippi and all over the Great Lakes.

        Ask yourself why there are no large US shipping companies left that serve world ports. All are gone. Instead, shipping is mostly controlled by China, Japan, Korea and carriers based in Europe. Those countries saw shipping as a strategic initiative and invested in shipping lines with low-cost loans and subsidies. America did neither, so the US lines have all but disappeared. China and Korea still heavily subsidize their home shipping lines, so they don’t need to make money.

        The U.S. ships also serve as a reserve fleet in a time of war, so the military can take control of them and use them as troop and supply carriers. That is exactly what happened in both WW with shipping lines like American Presidents Line and others.

    • Might be fun to put Port of Anchorage tariff and Jones Act in the same sentence, throw in workable recommendations, share with DOGE, volunteer to help make the recommendations reality.
      .
      Should get their attention because what you’re suggesting is the definition of a Big Deal.
      .
      Would appreciate knowing how it turns out.

      • They do not. It goes to Seattle and then back to southeast. So most businesses in SE buy direct from Seattle instead. A lot of time though I can buy through an Alaska distributor up north ( which is my preference) and they can have it dropped shipped directly to me instead of it going to Anchorage 1st. I can often have something (even heavy) flown on Alaska Ait cheaper than going on the barge. Go figure.

        • Well I can tell you dave the freight to kodiak and Dutch comes after the anchorage drop. I said they must hit southeast on their way back to Seattle.?.? As far as I’m concerned southeast could be chopped off at lituya bay and traded to Canada for the Yukon Territory.

  5. Well now, you’d better get used to this because when Trump imposes his massive tariff plan, the price of almost everything you buy will increase significantly. And if you think your income taxes will decrease as an offset, you haven’t been paying attention. Good luck to all.

    • You have no clue what you are even talking about Dog…. You know he is going to stop all of what Biden has done. He’s going to eliminate taxes on Social Security payments, ease taxes elsewhere. All you do is whine and complain! It has to start somewhere to undo all the garbage Biden inflicted! He is so the sole reason we are paying ridiculous prices now. That alone will take time. Stop being so negative!

      • Dear Daisy, there’s not a chance in hell that Trump will eliminate SS taxes. In fact, if he does anything, it will probably be do reduce benefits. Just watch – especially when the billionaires Musk and Ramasmarmy start calling the shots. You have swallowed his line of BS hook, line, and sinker and are in for a real surprise.

        Trump will increase the national debt, cause inflation to return with his tariffs, cut taxes for the wealthy, and pass the burden on to you. Let’s both check back in about two years’ time and see who was right.

        • We just survived 4 years of hell from a left wing 1/2 brain dead individual. We have wars going on both ends of the planet,18 million illegals, inflation at an all time high, a left wing that actually tried to kill a presidential candidate not once but 3 times, homeless and drug addiction are at an all time high, our population is being poisoned with crap foods and medicine from corrupt pharmaceutical and Ag companies, milk cost more than gas and yet gas takes 10 times the effort and energy to produce. And yet your Man Biden and his cronies were right on top of it. Let’s add the kangaroo court your man Biden put Trump through. Rigged juries and corrupt judges, then of course there was the great Covid scam that nearly bankrupt our country, all in 4 years. O ya then the vaccine scam that is decreasing our population at a rapid rate, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, leukemia, bizarre cancers and on and on, all pushed by our left wing lunatic drug pushing politicians. A person can’t even make this crap up. It’s book material. We live in bizarre times.

          • Most/all of what you mention were happening well before Biden entered office (as you are of course well aware), except for one – assassination attempts. This is indeed new to the scene, and Trump himself carries a lot of the blame for it. If he focused less on stirring up anger, resentment, and hatred, perhaps shooters wouldn’t be up on rooftops or hiding in bushes to begin with.

            For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. – Galatians 6:7

          • The current inflation rate is 2.6%, far below historic averages. Inflation ballooned to 7% in 2020-2021because of all the government aid and money that poured into the economy to offset Covid economic havoc. It has decreased steadily since then.

            Inflation was a WORLDWIDE occurrence during and after Covid. Most countries had it far worse than the U.S., with rates as high as 50+%. Russia is at 19% now.

          • Actually it is YOU who live in a bizarre state of mind…I think there may be treatments available for all that delusional thinking that may help
            to set you on the right path of rational thought processes.

        • Well dog, can you name 1 thing positive that the current administration has done FOR THE PEOPLE and not to line their own pockets?

    • Didn’t we just elect a billionaire who promised tariffs up to 60%. Why was that popular and this Anchorage one horrible? Also the billionaire we just elected tasked two other billionaires to take essential stuff away from us. On the plus side it was amazing how the price of eggs and gasoline dropped 30% in the past week and the war in the Middle East and the other one in Ukraine ended with just a few phone calls from President elect Trump. Now let me get back to that $60 bible and find that section on taking care of the poor and less fortunate.

    • If I were president, I would implement a price freeze on everything and get control of inflation.
      Also, deporting illegals would lesson demand on almost everything thus lessoning inflation.

  6. And just wait the uneducated Anchorage voter will pass the sales tax coming up and then they were wonder why did my rent go up why his food cost more. I can’t help but laugh when people shoot themselves in the foot. Politicians will always be after more money in anyway they can get it. You look at everything that’s taxed versus stuff that’s not taxed, I’m waiting for taxes on the air that we breathe. Cost go up for reasons and the reasons are our politicians.

  7. Welcome to the State of Seattle. Thank you, Anchorage. Time to build a new port out here in the Valley. We can tax ourselves to build it and once done forget about Anchorage. First time that I heard that the Anchorage Board had voted to increase the tariffs. That was done a year ago, but kept from the Public? Might have hurt an election if it was made public when passed?? Just going to get worse. Where does the Anchorage fuel charge go? Haven’t heard much about what that money is spent on at all since its inception.

    • Sounds like an idea to consider! I left Anchorage because of their constantly raising taxes. It seems they want to extend their pain to everyone outside of Anchorage now. Perhaps we should start charging tolls for them to come into the valley.

    • We have a very excellent port already. It needs rails on the already built rail bed and we are off to the races. We could eliminate all the mat Su cargo as well as interior cargo from the port of anchorage at point McKenzie. Let’s get it done. It’s not safe having only 1 major port anyway.

  8. The assembly is completely out of hand. Those amounts are ridiculous and unjust. I cannot believe this makes me sick to my stomach

  9. Wait! What, Tarriff’s are passed on to consumers! I thought Trump said that CHINA would be paying the Tarriff’s. How can the Assembly Tarriff’s be bad but the ones that Trump will use are good? I can’t wait for the story that says CHINA Tarriff’s passed on to consumers!
    Who uses SPAN Alaska? I know that if you are in the Bush, you would have ordered it through the Mail so then it would not have gone through the port of Anchorage. Whew, I am glad I don’t use SPAN Alaska, because they are supposed to be the ones paying the Tarriffs! MAGA!!!!!

    • Most of the China tariffs that Trump put in have been kept by the Biden administration. The upcoming tariffs are to be temporary to level the trade deficit playing field. You’re kvetching about tariffs but myopically fail to mention the 20% reduction in the value of the dollar (Bidenflation) plus the 30% increase costs in housing, food, gas, insurance, 10% increase in utilities (Bidenomics) for each & every building in urban Alaskan areas. It’s much worse in the villages and remote areas. Pffft!

  11. Our 3 largest cities, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau have become indistinguishable from the rest of the Left Coast.

    Juneau and Anchorage have been primarily populated by outside, White, liberal, noxious female Karens, or their limp wristed Karen dominated pathetic excuses for “men”, for years.

    Fairbanks which held on longer, as a decent place to live amongst normal and cogent neighbors, is almost fully transitioned. You can see it in traffic, the rudeness, aggressiveness without any winter driving skills, ignorance of wildlife, the whole yuppie mess.

    These outsiders, in overwhelming numbers, bring their political habits of large wasteful government, intrusion into family’s business and ever expanding costs of larger government.

    The result is paying far more for the loss of quality everyday life and the loss of any hope for viable economic opportunity.

    • 100% correct. Don’t be fooled by Biden’s claim that there will be a smooth transition. The rabid Left will be even worse this time around than they were during Trump’s first 4 years. TDS runs strong in those who cannot see the big picture because they are idiots.

  12. Christine Tatham Wachmann but check this: the idiot Left voters of ALL Alaska voted Ballot Measure 1 to pass. No small business can afford the triple whammy of wage increase schedule AND paid sick leave and inflation + with the tariffs, the Left has begun to create entire economic dead zones across the state.

    • If you can’t afford to pay people enough to rent a room, your business isn’t viable. If you’re paying people that little you’ve failed as an employer and a human being. Do you pay yourself less than $15?

      • When the “cost” of rent is so high that a man earning $100K/year can’t afford it, mandatory wage & benefit increases will not solve housing or any other problem – you only add fuel to inflation. Yes Rot, some businesses living on the edge will close.

      • That is not the problem, the problem is a government mandating what you must pay. The salary is a negation between employer and employee. Those that don’t pay will go out of business it should not be the government dictating what you will pay. It’s called Free Enterprise. Most small businesses are on a shoe string budget as it is but when the government interfered they are essentially running your business with no interest if you are the entrepreneur the bottom line for any business is to make money.

    • You listed the necessities for minimal quality of urban life for federal and state workers. The rise in inflation is covered by increases in COLA for them. Cheers!

  14. Thank you citizens of Anchorage. You have manage to inflict additional pain upon the citizens of the rest of Alaska for the basics, which are already 30% higher than the rest of the country because they must be shipped here. You may have done it unknowingly because you were distracted by voting for the lefties that occupy the Assembly, but those lefty money grubbers knew exactly what they would do with the power. It’s bad enough that Anchorage gets the first crack at the tourism apple, raising rates and prices that will then be absorbed by tourists. But you don’t leave much for the rest of the state to pick through. The part that really gets my juices flowing is that they are not incremental increases, but vast hikes and significant jumps; From $.059 to $4.80/ton and from $9.50 per Container to $75.50 per Container on Full Loads. That’s 700-900% and constitutes pure and unadulterated price gouging. Our only hope is that the Alaska Port Commission will make suitable recommendations to reduce them, but I’m not optimistic. They are after all supported from within and palms are greased. The corruption of this state is crying shame.

    • It costs roughly $9000 to move a container from Seattle to Anchorage. The increase is incredible on the surface, but in reality it is less than %1 on a container. Not sure where Span is getting 7.5% from.

      • The story is confusing. The port surcharge is passed on dollar for dollar. The 7.5% is the annual rate increase by the big shipping lines going to Anchorage. That is not mandated by the government. This is also passed on to the customers of Span because they are paying it to the shipping lines that move their containers from the lower 48 to Anchorage.

    • Well let’s see – probably a billion dollar port spread over at most 100,000 Valley people. That’s 10 grand a head. So good luck with that.

    • Let’s get it done Stephen. Competition is good. I’m going to borough Monday and have a discussion about this with the port commissioner. It’s time to get this project moving

    • The military will make Port Mackenzie viable when they do a proof of principle movement of ammunition for the armed forces next year. Port Mackenzie is actually more viable than most think. I did a thesis paper on the transportation in the state and the post was one of the best options to increase the movement of goods into the state unlike POA where it has to be dredged every year just to keep it functional.

  18. I am a union worker. Prop 1 does not raise my pay or benefits one penny.

    Mind you, I voted against Prop 1. I don’t believe government should tell business what pay and benefits should be. But please don’t falsely state that because I am in a union, I am benefiting from Prop 1.

    Cheers!

  19. The current port is old and dying. It needs to be modernized or it will fail and everything will have to be flown up or trucked up, which will cost more. This will cost money and it is much better if this is paid for by a fee on the port than by an income or sales tax on everyone or by jacking up the property taxes. Thank you

    • What would you say if the purpose of those tariffs work and Europe and China stop tariffing US exports and manufacturers return to the US and we produce our own strategic resources and medicines?
      It seems that part is always forgotten by the America Last movement.

  23. Everybody needs to remember cost for everything are going up with the New port fees and Enstar gas is going up as we import gas for use. Also chugach electric is going up with new contracts coming due as increased gas cost.
    The assembly wants a sales tax next and they will proud not to ever increase it.
    Everybody needs to look as rising costs to live.

  25. States and municipalities cannot levy tariffs or customs. It’s illegal per the Constitution, only the federal government can set tariffs. It’s additionally illegal for a state to tax or set tariffs on interstate trade.

    • The charge is not a tariff or a customs fee. It is a wharfage charge assessed to users of a public utility, in this case the port of Alaska. And the users are the shipping lines, cruise lines, oil tankers. etc.

      Just like ANC charges fees to airlines for the planes that use its terminals, the same with the port.

  26. First thing to note is who is doing this announcement – Span Alaska prices are already so high they can’t compete with Bush shopping services and the internet. My last Span order was more than ten years ago. Competitive “free” market will minimize any impact anchorage’s hubris and theft (yeah, theft – making someone else pay for your project) may have on the rest of Alaska.

  28. The elites want to make Alaska so expensive so that they drive away the lowly riffraff and turn the State into another Aspen, Colorado, a playground for the uber rich!

    • Yeah, last I checked the Anchorage council didn’t look to be filled with Trump supporters.

      I suggest that you actually READ the article.

  31. That’s what we get for putting (and keeping0 liberals in Municipal government. The Municipal government needs to be gutted and redone… soon.

  32. This is an 800% increase! Add a sales tax and the passage of prop 1 and Alaska’s Cost of Living just skyrocketed. How exactly are young people expected to live here? Idiots in the Assembly. The Port has received millions from Anchorage Tax Payers and they squandered it away through corruption.

  33. What. About the port of seward. Left to rot for. Years. While crooked. People. Spent. Million s on that mud hole port anchorage. With the 300 million that they stole from us for us. Sward could been the best port in the Pacific northwest

  35. This is bullshit. This is what happens when we have a Democrat assembly & mayor that pass their own agenda high increase so they can pass their own policies and pay for their own certain groups that does not help Alaskans who makes paycheck to paycheck

  36. The port of Anchorage put a 2cent a gallon tariff on fuel shipped through port of Anchorage from Fairbanks on railroad . At one time in the 90’s it gave port of Anchorage almost $200M per year just off of the jet fuel . So now it adds fifty cents to a gallon of AvGas we so desperately need in Fairbanks . Criminal

  37. The Port under Sheffield already pissed away 600 million dollars on a failed attempt at modernization. Not one person lost their job or went to jail for that massive rip off of the taxpayers. The corruption runs very deep. Anchorage is in a death spiral, like all blue cities.

  38. So…a facility built and maintained by state and Federal dollars manned by private employees, state employees, and a very very few (if any) municipal employees is now a cash cow to fund the excesses of Anchorage city government…a cash cow that even those of us who do not visit Anchorage must pay to feed.

    Thank you, Voters of Anchorage!

    • Don’t blame all Anchorage voters I do not live inside Anchorage proper but have voted the other way. I can not help that the municipality steals the elections with the dumb a$$ mail in vote.

    • It is so insane, it almost seems unlawful…I bet out no good weak useless governor won’t do a thing.

      We are surrounded by communists and weak men.

  40. How 9 communists can have this much power! Thanks Anchorage citizens, because of your lazy stupid arses we have to suffer.

    These are same ilk who want to kill Eklutna water.

  41. Due to voting by the people, we now have top government coming in that will establish more taxes on importing companies….they pass the cost to the people by raising prices.

    The Assembly follows suit by doing the same thing the day after the election for the port so Alaskans can have services that are needed desperately here, and they are wrong for doing the same thing? Did I miss something?

    The fact is that the national government that was voted in to do this, (tax importers) makes this even a bigger increase….it all trickles down to the people’s pockets.

    Time to start saving up your food and toilet paper people.

  42. Well my SS will increase 2.4% in 2025.
    I guess it will help the seniors decision to leave Alaska easierz
    Just starve us out like the last few years .

  43. Definition:
    Tariffs are used to regulate trade and can raise the prices of foreign products to protect domestic industries

    This is yet another TAX, not a tariff.

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