Johnson, Thune’s bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act becomes law

President Joe Biden on June 16 signed into law bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that prohibits ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing cargo space accommodations for U.S. exports and from discriminating against U.S. exporters.

“Getting the Ocean Shipping Reform Act across the finish line has been a team effort over the last year to address our supply chain issues,” said Rep. Johnson, who in August 2021 cosponsored the original Ocean Shipping Reform Act, H.R. 4996, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA).

Biden signed into law the companion bill, S. 3580, introduced in February by Sens. Thune and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), which also will require ocean common carriers to report to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) each calendar quarter on total import/export tonnage and 20-foot equivalent units (loaded/empty) per vessel that makes port in the United States, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Johnson’s office.

Sen. Thune, in a videotaped statement posted on Twitter, said the legislation “will help South Dakota farmers get their exports to their destination, help consumers in this country with imports coming into the country, eliminate a lot of the obstacles and bottlenecks that exist in America’s ports. This legislation is long overdue. It’s a bipartisan win, it’s good for South Dakota, and it’s good for our country.”

The United States reportedly has lost out on more than an estimated $25 billion in U.S. agriculture exports over the last six months, and U.S. dairy producers have lost more than $1.3 billion in export revenue in the first three quarters of 2021.

“If foreign ocean carriers want to utilize American ports, they will have to play by our rules,” Rep. Johnson said in a written statement. “Agriculture producers lost a significant amount of revenue because of unfair practices by foreign ocean shippers — damaging the American economy and supply chain — our bill puts an end to that.”

Under the newly signed law, the FMC also is authorized to self-initiate investigations of ocean common carrier’s business practices and apply enforcement measures, as appropriate. The FMC also has new authority to register shipping exchanges to improve the negotiation of service contracts, the summary says.