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Garamendi Joins President Biden to Discuss His Ocean Shipping Reform Act

June 10, 2022

Garamendi’s Bipartisan Legislation to Address Inflation and Supply Chain Issues Will Be Passed and Signed into Law by President Biden Next Week

LOS ANGELES, CA—Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) met with President Joe Biden, other elected officials, and port workers at the Port of Los Angeles to discuss the upcoming final passage of Garamendi's bipartisan "Ocean Shipping Reform Act" in Congress.

At the Port of Los Angeles, President Biden pointed out that there are nine multinational ocean shipping companies that formed three consortiums and raised prices on American businesses and consumers by over 1,000% on goods coming from Asia. This allowed these foreign companies to make $190 billion in profits—a sevenfold increase in one year.

In August 2021, Garamendi introduced the "Ocean Shipping Reform Act" with Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-SD) to provide the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) with the necessary tools to support American exporters, protect consumers, and establish reciprocal trade opportunities to reduce America's longstanding trade imbalance with China and other countries.

The "Ocean Shipping Reform Act" will help crush inflation and address ongoing supply chain issues impacting the American economy. Early next week, Congress will pass and send the bipartisan legislation to President Biden's desk to be signed into law. This will be the first major overhaul of our nation's ocean shipping laws since 1998.

"I'm incredibly pleased that my bipartisan legislation is about to become law to crack down on multinational ocean shipping companies that are jacking up prices and hurting the American consumer and small businesses," Garamendi said. "It was an honor to join President Joe Biden and my esteemed colleagues from the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate at the Port of Los Angeles to discuss how my ‘Ocean Shipping Reform Act' will crush inflation and protect American jobs and businesses. Thank you to Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-SD) for co-authoring the legislation with me in the House, and thank you to Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) for championing the legislation in the Senate.

"We all look forward to passing the ‘Ocean Shipping Reform Act' next week and seeing President Biden sign it into law to give American businesses a fair shot and lower costs on essential goods for American families," Garamendi concluded.

A link to the full event is available here.

Issues:Education