Episode description

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Administrator Adam Tindall-Schlicht underlines the importance of Great Lakes shipping for the Midwest economy. 

He also highlights room for growth in the region, noting the amount of vessel traffic through these waterways could be doubled with “no operational impact” on U.S. and Canadian ports there. 

“Now, we want to do that in an economically and environmentally resilient way,” he said. “We view ourselves as stewards of the Great Lakes, and stewards of this freshwater asset.” 

Tindall-Schlicht also discusses the need for expansion, automation and infrastructure investment at U.S. ports on the Great Lakes, referencing the “generational opportunity” presented by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and Inflation Reduction Act. 

“We’re in a time of cargo diversification on the Great Lakes,” he said. “We’re seeing new container services coming online that forwarders are looking at, that supply chain logisticians are looking at.”