Lawmakers Ask FMC to Speed Up Shipping Exchange Rule

A group of 14 House members, including the leaders of two committees, urged the Federal Maritime Commission in a Feb. 1 letter to move “as expeditiously as possible” to initiate a rulemaking on shipping exchanges.

Although the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which became law in June 2022 (see 2206160064), gives the FMC three years, or until June 2025, to begin the rulemaking for platforms that connect shippers with common carriers, the commission should act now to provide a counterbalance to China’s Shanghai Shipping Exchange, which is poised to become a monopoly without more capable competition, the letter to FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said.

“Currently, U.S.-based shipping exchanges exist in a space where the lack of regulatory clarity hinders their ability to provide maximum value to the industry,” the lawmakers wrote. “Implementing the shipping exchange regulations would eliminate this uncertainty, putting the United States on a path to more effective competition with the People’s Republic of China.”

Signers of the letter include Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the chairman and the ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, respectively; and Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash., the chairman and the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, respectively.

The FMC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.