Ocean carriers will be barred from unreasonably refusing to load U.S. cargo, a practice that blossomed during pandemic-related port congestion, under a bill signed into law by President Biden on Thursday. Biden said the new law would “put a stop to shipping companies taking advantage of American families, farmers, ranchers, and businesses and to bring down prices and give the American people a little bit of breathing room.”
“It is time to get America’s supply chain running again,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, who spoke at the 10-minute signing ceremony. He pointed to estimates that U.S. farmers lost $25 billion in ag exports in the past six months because of port congestion. The shipping bill, S 3580, is “the first significant reform of shipping laws in 24 years,” he said.
The new law authorizes the Federal Maritime Commission to independently initiate investigations of the business practices of carriers and to apply enforcement measures beyond its headline mission of prohibiting shipping companies from refusing to load U.S. cargo and discriminating against U.S. exporters.
For months, exporters have complained that freight carriers, looking to capture high shipping rates, preferred to haul empty shipping containers to Asia rather than deliver U.S.-made products overseas.