All the rage in Washington is around the Inflation Reduction Act. However, a bipartisan bill that was recently signed into law, called the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, will do more for supply chains — and, ironically for inflation — than the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. The American Prospect discusses the bill in some detail, and it is worth reading about.

Among other things, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022), passed in June, is intended to crack down on the ocean shipping cartel. It gives the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) authority to scrutinize shipping contracts, prevent price-gouging and extortionate fees, and facilitate exports.

The Federal Maritime Commission also signaled that it would require ocean carriers and ports to share cargo data with other stakeholders, in a bid to fight congestion. Some freight companies have already begun to share capacity information. The OSRA 2022 also finally gave the FMC the authority to force data-sharing. While bottlenecks in aggregate have been easing with the slowdown in goods demand, specific areas remain clogged, and getting early warning on the problems can mitigate shortages and price shocks.

Furthermore, the FMC also issued guidance to make it easier for cargo owners to fight unreasonable shipping charges and warned ocean carriers to stop charging companies for containers that are stuck at the ports and cannot be moved.

OSRA 2022 “turns the FMC into an enforcement agency along the lines of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission,” Agriculture Transportation Coalition executive director Peter Friedmann told Freight Waves. While the agency needs more resources, there are indications that shippers are heeding expert advice to start complying with the law. That should filter down into lower shipping prices on every imported good.

It’s another surprisingly good thing coming out of Washington. Have a look at the Prospect article here.