The U.S. House voted 393-24 Thursday to approve South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson’s bill targeting China’s control of international supply chains. The bill would allow the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate foreign shipping business practices and allow for data standardization in supply chains.
It also cracks down on LOGINK, a logistics management platform operated by China, by banning its use in the U.S. by port operators and marine terminals that use federal grant money, according to news outlet Freight Waves.
Johnson, a Republican, introduced the Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act in March 2023 with California Democratic Rep. John Garamendi. Johnson dubbed the bill “Ocean Shipping Reform 2.0” because it goes beyond 2022’s Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
“House passage of OSRA 2.0 gets us one step closer to further securing our ocean shipping supply chains,” Johnson said in a news release. “The FMC needs authority to crack down on China’s unfair shipping practices.”
The original act was meant to protect American businesses and consumers from price gouging by foreign liners, Garamendi said in the press release.
Representatives of manufacturers, retailers, agriculture producers and transportation associations said the bill would improve efficiency, workforce and safety priorities for industries dependent on such trade and transportation, according to the news release.
“Those new regulations are making major strides in ensuring that trucking fleets of all sizes, as well as American agricultural shippers and others moving goods through our ports, are treated fairly by foreign-owned shipping lines,” said Henry Hanscom, of the American Trucking Associations.
The new bill will help correct the United States’ trade imbalance with countries like China, Garamendi added.
The bill will head to the Senate next.