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Exporters warn concentrated ocean alliances constrain choices, threaten perishable shipments
Summary
Industry witnesses told a House subcommittee that heavy reliance on foreign carriers and limited U.S.-flag capacity reduce U.S. exporters' leverage, risk perishable goods, and heighten costs; they asked Congress to consider investments in U.S. shipbuilding and reforms to fee and transparency rules.
Tony Rice, who testified for the National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council, told the subcommittee that U.S. agricultural exporters "are almost wholly dependent upon foreign entities to transport their products" because the U.S.-flag oceangoing fleet represents a small share of global capacity. Rice said perishable exporters lost sales and value during pandemic-era disruptions and that current carrier practices (schedule rolls, limited chassis choices, and lack of transparency about cancellations) impose real costs.
Rice said industry supports strategic investment in domestic shipbuilding capacity and mariner workforce training to increase resilience and bargaining options, but cautioned that proposed port penalties or fees must be structured so U.S. exporters do not end up paying new costs. He urged the FMC to continue investigations (he noted an FMC inquiry launched in January into whether carriers restrict truckers and shippers to certain chassis providers) and to enforce statutory obligations for reasonable service and transparency.
Members from agriculture-heavy districts pressed Rice and other witnesses for concrete reforms. Witnesses offered a menu of options: (1) legislative incentives and permitting reforms to speed U.S. shipyard capacity expansion; (2) workforce investment to grow U.S. mariner availability; and (3) regulatory steps to ensure carriers provide schedule and equipment transparency and to prohibit fee pass-throughs that disadvantage U.S. exporters.
No formal policy or funding decision was made at the hearing; members requested additional written materials and committed to further oversight of whether agency rules or statutory changes are needed to shield exporters from operational and market-concentration risks.
