{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases/harder-backed-bill-help-fix-american-ports-combat-china-passes-house", "Harder Backed Bill to Help Fix American Ports & Combat China Passes House", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Josh Harder", "H001090", "harder.house.gov", "harder", "https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, the Harder-backed bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 passed the House of Representatives. The bill is intended to fix the dire situation at California's ports, combat China's influence over international shipping, and bring down the rapidly rising costs of consumer goods. It is the first major update of federal regulations for the global ocean shipping industry in almost 25 years.\n\n\"Fixing the situation at our ports and fighting China's influence on shipping prices means products get to our shelves faster, more efficiently, and most importantly \u2013 for a lower price,\" said Rep. Harder. \"I'm laser focused on making the Valley more affordable and I'm proud we were able to pass this bill through the House today to bring it one step closer to becoming law.\"\n\nOver the past two years, the cost to ship a container has increased by up to 500 percent, making it significantly more expensive to import consumer goods and export American products. Huge backlogs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together account for 40 percent of the seaborn imports in the entire United States, have only made prices rise even higher. At the same time, China's growing dominance in international shipping has allowed the country to drive cross-Pacific shipping rates. Together, these issues are contributing to the rapidly increasing cost of goods impacting every family in the Central Valley.\n\nThe Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 would:\n\nEstablish reciprocal trade to promote U.S. exports as part of the Federal Maritime Commission's (FMC) mission.\n\nRequire ocean carriers to adhere to minimum service standards that meet the public interest, reflecting best practices in the global shipping industry.\n\nRequire ocean carriers or marine terminal operators to certify that any late fees \u2014known in maritime parlance as \"detention and demurrage\" charges\u2014comply with federal regulations or face penalties.\n\nShift burden of proof regarding the reasonableness of \"detention or demurrage\" charges from the invoiced party to the ocean carrier or marine terminal operator.\n\nProhibit ocean carriers from declining opportunities for U.S. exports unreasonably, as determined by the FMC in new required rulemaking.\n\nRequire ocean common carriers to report to the FMC each calendar quarter on total import/export tonnage and twenty-foot equivalent units (loaded/empty) per vessel that makes port in the United States.\n\nAuthorizes the FMC to self-initiate investigations of ocean common carrier's business practices and apply enforcement measures, as appropriate.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases/harder-backed-bill-help-fix-american-ports-combat-china-passes-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.766877878457308, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}