‘Time is of the essence in this matter’
The CNMI’s plea for an exemption to the current U.S.-China flight cap has been sitting with the U.S Department of Transportation for nearly a year without a response.
The CNMI continues to plunge deeper into a world of hurt as businesses close their doors and both the private and government sectors continue to implement drastic cost-cutting measures to stay afloat due to low tourist arrivals.
The most viable solution: A CNMI exemption to the current U.S.-China flight cap which currently allows only 50 weekly flights from China to the entire U.S. (including its territories).
The Commonwealth Ports Authority, under the leadership of former board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, launched the initiative for an exemption on this flight cap back in August 2023 which has been supported by the CNMI Legislature, Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-Saipan).
Now that it’s been nearly a year without a response, Senate President Edith DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) has again written to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, pleading for a CNMI exemption.
“I write seeking resolution to the request detailed in my letter dated Feb. 26, 2024, to exempt the CNMI from the cap on the number of weekly flights from China to the United States, which would allow scheduled air service between China and the CNMI to resume. Although the U.S. DOT increased the number of flights from China to the United States from 35 to 50 weekly flights in March 2024, DOT has not acted on the CPA’s request for reinstatement of Annex VI of the U.S.-China Air Service Agreement of 2007 and exemption from the cap on the number of flights from China to the United States,” she said in her letter.
“DOT’s cap on the weekly flights from China is preventing the CNMI from restoring our Chinese visitor numbers. As stated by our U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan, the CNMI should already be exempt from the 50 weekly flight cap pursuant to Annex VI which authorizes unlimited China flights to the CNMI,” she adds.
Deleon Guerrero states in her letter that time is now of the essence in this matter.
“Time is of the essence in this matter. CPA’s request for exemption was made in August of 2023, which is almost one year ago. In the meantime, the CNMI’s economy is worsening and slipping into crisis mode,” she said.
In her letter, Deleon Guerrero speaks about the CNMI’s last Economic Forum held on May 16, explaining that if no immediate action is taken to increase visitor arrivals, the CNMI economy faces a complete collapse.
“The Chamber presented ‘Operation 500K,’ a plan to bring in at least 500,000 visitors to the CNMI for the hotels and businesses to break even and stop the financial bleeding. For Operation 500K to succeed, Annex VI must be reinstated and the CNMI must be given an exemption to the limited number of China flights to the United States. The exemption will allow pre-pandemic air service between China and the CNMI to resume. It is critical that the CNMI be allowed to bring in Chinese visitors to augment the loss of revenues from the CNMI’s low visitor arrival rates since the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
DeLeon Guerrero also notes that since her letter dated Feb. 26, legacy businesses like the Hyatt Regency Saipan and Asiana Airlines declared permanent closures by the end of June.
Ultimately, DeLeon Guerrero said the CNMI shares the same goals of the United States to restore its Chinese visitors to 2019 levels to support CNMI jobs including indirect jobs, which would increase business and government revenues.
“Other smaller businesses have shuttered their doors, and more businesses plan to do so in the upcoming months if there is no improvement in their business activities. The CNMI’s economic drive to increase its visitor arrivals to its pre-pandemic numbers is consistent with the remarks of U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis, Grant T. Harris, at the 14th U.S.-China Tourism Leadership Summit held at Xi’an, People’s Republic of China from May 21-23, 2024. Assistant Secretary Harris, who oversees the U.S. Government’s National Travel and Tourism Office, said that in 2019, the United States, welcomed nearly 3 million Chinese visitors, the top overseas market, who spent $33 billion experiencing the United States. Restoring Chinese visitation to 2019 levels would support over 50,000 American jobs. Including indirect jobs and students studying in the United States, that number increases to support an estimated 400,000 American jobs. Assistant Secretary Harris went on to invite the people of China to visit the United States and its territories,” she said.
Touching on the 2022 Economic Census, DeLeon Guerrero mentions that the top sector by number of employees is accommodation and food service, which includes the hotels and restaurants that service the CNMI’s tourism industry.
“Hotels and restaurants employ most of our residents. Therefore, the closing of hotels and restaurants and other related tourist businesses will result in a surge in unemployment in the CNMI. With increased unemployment, there will be a surge of economic, criminal and social problems in our communities,” she said.
Deleon Guerrero adds that while she and her colleagues in the Senate share the same concerns that have been raised about Chinese presence and influence in the Pacific region, safety measures and monitoring should and will be implemented.
“As I, and everyone that supports the Chinese flight limit exemption for the CNMI have repeatedly stated, tourism is our main economic industry and most of our businesses and the economy are centered around tourism. The Senate shares the same concerns that have been raised about Chinese presence and influence in the Pacific region. Contrary to what has been said, the Marianas Visitors Authority’s statistics show that from calendar year 1997 to April 2024, the largest major visitor market in the CNMI is Japan with a total of 5,218,761 visitors, followed by Korea with a total of 3,314,716 visitors and lastly, China with a total of 1,761,557 visitors. The Chinese market has been the smallest visitor market of the CNMI’s history. However, the CNMI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at the last U.S.-CNMI 902 Consultations, agreed that additional safety measures and monitoring should be implemented to ensure the security of the CNMI and the Pacific region,” she said.
“Customs and Border Protection’s EVS-TAP regulations in January 2024 is one measure being implemented to monitor and regulate who visits the CNMI. The Senate always supports U.S. national security, but accommodations must be made for the CNMI’s only viable economic industry since its inception—tourism,” DeLeon Guerrero adds.
In closing, DeLeon Guerrero said the CNMI is requesting to restore an exemption that was already authorized and existed prior to the pandemic, not for a new exemption.
“Once again, the Senate urgently seeks your favorable response to CPA’s request for an exemption from the cap on the number of weekly China flights to the United States,” she said.
Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero
