THE need for a multi-air cargo hub in the Midwest will be met elsewhere if tax incentives are not offered for St Louis, China`s Chicago Consul-General Yang Guoqiang told Fox News.
Mr Yang said that there is a lot of business for Midwest exporters with Chinese investors who would come to the Midwest and create more job opportunities, and create more market consumption.
"The first China flight that came to St Louis went back to Shanghai with electrical components from Emerson Electric, made in St Louis," he said.
However the "aerotropolis" concept, as the St Louis China hub is called by proponents, has been opposed by those who think it can never achieve its objective of siphoning cargo from Chicago`s O`Hare airport. Tax breaks for forwarders willing to set up at the hub have scaled back, and debate continues on whether to reduce or eliminate concessions for the Chinese carrier.
Mr Yang that withdrawing the Missouri tax breaks "will minimise your competitiveness. There are other areas that would want an operation like this. And this is international business."