THE American Trucking Associations (ATA) has welcomed the decision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) not to impose tariffs on Chinese-made, 53-foot domestic intermodal containers. ATA chief economist Bob Costello was quoted as saying in a report by AJOT: "Applying tariffs to these containers would have a tremendous impact on the entire freight logistics industry, and ultimately on US consumers, so we are very pleased with the decision." In June, ATA told the USTR that the only two manufacturers of these types of containers, used commonly in intermodal transportation, were located in China. Consequently, freight transportation companies would have no choice but to pay the higher cost since no domestic alternative existed. "Because there are no US-based makers of these containers, we estimate the logistics industry would've paid an additional US$63 million in the first year, and nearly $750 million more over the next decade for the equipment if these tariffs had not been rescinded," Mr Costello added.