New shipping law sets sail, aims to ease inflation and optimize U.S. supply chains

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Joe Biden signed the Ocean Reform Act into law Thursday.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a sponsor of the bill says it will solve several problems facing Americans right now.

“It’s one of the ways we can start bringing down prices.”

She and Senator Thune worked closely on the initiative – saying it impacts farmers in their states.

“we’ve had these huge issues, particularly with foreign flagged vessels, containers who you know, bring products into the United States,” said Sen. John Thune. “When they turn around, they won’t carry American agricultural commodities.”

Representative Dusty Johnson says even though his state is land-locked, shipping is the lifeline for agricultural exports.

“People are sometimes surprised that the gentleman from South Dakota is a maritime law expert, but the reality is that 60% of the soybeans grown in South Dakota are exported And our state also exports a tremendous amount of beef, corn, dairy, and our whole country exports a lot of agricultural goods we are a net exporter of products, a big trade surplus.”

The law will bolster the Federal Maritime Commission’s ability to enforce import/export ratios for American goods. That means stopping the unfair practice of foreign vessels refusing to take back American products.

“When you have grain actually rotting at the ports because there’s no container to take it and you’ve got containers that are available that are unwilling to do it, something is fundamentally wrong,” said Thune.

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