the collapse of the Baltimore bridge will have significant economic consequences

Joe Biden has committed to rebuilding the bridge, because the issue is economic: the debris obstructs access to the port and maritime transport is “suspended until further notice”.

“The Port of Baltimore is one of the largest maritime hubs in the United States.” With this sentence, Joe Biden summarizes the economic importance of the port affected by the collapse of the bridge, hit by a boat, Tuesday March 26. Since the spectacular collapse of the important Francis Scott Key highway bridge in the strategic port of Baltimore, on the American east coast, the authorities have deployed numerous means by air, on land, at sea and even underwater, finding two survivors, one seriously injured. American authorities believe that the six missing people are now presumed dead.

The search will continue when weather conditions permit, but the port of Baltimore remains shut down. It is inaccessible because of pieces of bridge that have fallen into the water which prevent passage to the Atlantic. This has numerous consequences for American economic activity: this four-lane bridge, 2.6 km long, is located on a crucial north-south axis for the economy of the east coast of the United States.

At the Port of Baltimore, 1.1 million containers were loaded or unloaded in 2023, more than 52 million tons of foreign goods arrived there worth more than $80 billion. For the American president, there is therefore an urgent need to make the port accessible again by rebuilding the bridge. “I intend to have the federal government cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge”has already assured Joe Biden.

More than 150,000 jobs affected

Importing sugar, exporting coal, the port of Baltimore is above all the American port which sees the most new cars transit: more than 800,000 last year. “The port of Baltimore is the one that handles the most new vehicles. There is also container traffic, bulk traffic, recalls the American Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg. There is no doubt that this will have a major and prolonged impact on supply chains, given the importance of this port not only to the Baltimore region, but also to the entire economy of UNITED STATES.”

More than 15,000 jobs directly depend on the Port of Baltimore, to which must be added nearly 140,000 indirect jobs.