The United States House of Representatives approved legislation on Monday to tighten ocean shipping oversight, which backers say will help to reduce inflation and export backlogs, says an article published in Reuters.
Investigatory authority
The law passed 369-42 and will now be sent to President Joe Biden for his approval.
In a statement, Biden said he was looking forward to signing it into law.
The bill would give the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the US agency in charge of ocean shipping, more investigative power and promote business openness.
Unreasonably declining opportunities
It would allow the FMC to investigate ocean common carriers’ business practises and take enforcement action, as well as require ocean common carriers to report “total import/export tonnage” to the FMC every calendar quarter, and prohibit ocean common carriers from arbitrarily declining opportunities for U.S. exports under new FMC-determined rules.
Senator Maria Cantwell said the bill gives the FMC “the tools it needs to cut down on extraneous shipping costs and stop shipping carriers from leaving American products like apples, hay, milk and potatoes behind.”
Combat inflation
In March, the Senate passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act overwhelmingly.
In December, the House of Representatives passed similar legislation.
“Inflation is the greatest frustration America has right now, and backlogs at our ports are one of the biggest drivers of price hikes that we will address through this bill,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
According to the consumer price index, inflation in the United States reached 8.6 percent in the 12 months ending in May.
Democrats are also pressing for prescription medicine price reductions in addition to the shipping bill.
Consumer demand
According to the National Retail Federation, imports in the country’s major retail container ports are expected to hit near-record levels in June as retailers try to meet customer demand while also protecting themselves from interruptions in West Coast ports.
American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear said the “bill provides important tools to address unjustified and illegal fees collected from American truckers by the ocean shipping cartel.”
Landside logistics
The World Shipping Council did not respond to a request for comment by late Monday, but said in a statement in March when the Senate was contemplating the bill that it did not address the core reasons of congestion in the United States.
“Americans continue to import goods at record levels – so much so that the U.S. ports and landside logistics workforce is unable to process all the cargo. Ocean carriers have deployed every vessel and every container available, and are moving more goods than at any point in history, but the U.S. landside logjams are keeping vessels stuck outside U.S. ports,” the group said.
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: Reuters
