North America - An op-ed co-authored by JJ Ruest, President and Chief Executive Officer of CN and Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kansas City Southern was published in The Hill yesterday under the headline "Rail merger is a key to economic growth, supply chain security."
 
In the op-ed, Ruest and Ottensmeyer articulated how the combination of CN and KCS will supply critical infrastructure to shorten supply chains.
 
They underscored that the combination will enhance competition and support the economies of the United States, Mexico, and Canada, allowing the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement to reach its full potential:
 
"Consider an auto manufacturer in Michigan, our track would directly connect Detroit to the heart of Mexico, giving U.S. manufacturers more competitive routes and the ability to create U.S. jobs as they meet new domestic and regional content requirements under the USMCA.
 
Other potential beneficiaries include grain farmers in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin who would have expanded reach into global markets, as well as ethanol producers in Iowa who would have direct access to markets in Mexico, home-builders in Texas and poultry farmers in Arkansas would benefit from expanded supply networks of lumber and source feed ingredients."
 
Ruest and Ottensmeyer also highlighted key environmental benefits the combination will deliver to customers and communities:
 
"For a single route, from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to Detroit, Michigan, moving freight from trucks to trains would save 260,000 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of the average annual emissions of more than 300 long-haul trucks. Multiply that across multiple routes and years, and the impact would be significant."
 
The op-ed also advocated for the approval of CN/KCS' proposed plain vanilla voting trust.
 
The voting trust is identical to the CP trust approved by the STB and meets the test for approval, (a) it prevents premature control of KCS, (b) allows KCS to maintain independence during the STB's review of the ultimate combination of CN and KCS, and (c) protects KCS' financial health during this period.
 
Author unknown.