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House Transportation Committee reauthorizes Federal Maritime Commission, strengthens powers on shipping practices
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Summary
Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota urged passage of HR 4183, the Federal Maritime Commission Reauthorization Act of 2025, telling the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that ‘‘if we don't have a functional FMC, we do not have a functional American economy.’' The committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute and ordered the bill favorably reported to the House.
Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota opened debate on HR 4183, the Federal Maritime Commission Reauthorization Act of 2025, saying the bill reauthorizes and strengthens the commission and ‘‘if we don't have a functional FMC, we do not have a functional American economy.’' The committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute and voted to report the bill favorably to the House.
The bill would extend the Federal Maritime Commission's authorization through 2029, expand FMC advisory committees, and tighten procedures for releasing FMC investigative material to outside parties by requiring a majority vote. Provisions described in the markup aim to codify a definition of “controlled carrier” in the Shipping Act to include state-controlled enterprises and nonmarket economies, and to create a formal process to report complaints against exchanges such as the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. Supporters said those changes would help the FMC investigate anti‑competitive practices and protect American shippers.
Representative Larson, the ranking member, described the ANS as bipartisan and noted the bill authorizes a five percent yearly increase in authorization through 2029 and would standardize shipping data and establish national port and ocean carrier advisory committees. Representative Dusty Johnson and other members said the bill builds on the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 and provides additional tools for oversight and rate review standards to guard against below‑cost pricing enabled by state support.
Committee members who spoke in favor included Representatives Larson, Ezell, Carbajal and Garamendi. Representative McDowell supported the bill generally but raised a policy question about the scope of FMC authority over chassis provisioning and its impact on intermodal equipment providers and investment. The record shows no amendment beyond the substitute was adopted during discussion. The amendment in the nature of a substitute was adopted by voice vote; the bill as amended was then agreed to and ordered favorably reported to the House. The motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
The committee proceeded to other agenda items after the vote. The markup record does not show a roll‑call tally for HR 4183; the adoption and favorable reporting were conducted by voice vote as recorded in the transcript.
