Biden To Sign Bill To Get More Access To Shipping Containers, Help Supply Chain

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) — President Joe Biden says he looks forward to signing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act into law.

The bipartisan effort was led by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, South Dakota’s Sen. John Thune and Rep. Dusty Johnson and Rep. John Garamendi of California.

It is expected to help lower costs for American retailers, farmers and consumers.

Biden says during the pandemic, ocean carriers increased their prices by as much as one thousand percent and often refused to take American exports back to Asia, leaving with empty containers instead.

Sen. John Hoeven cosponsored the bill and says it’ll help our farmers.

“We need to do all we can to get on top of these supply chain issues in our economy,” said Hoeven.

“So the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is all about getting access to containers and that is particularly important for our farmers so they can ship their product.”

Sen. Klobuchar says ocean carriers are mostly foreign-owned and have reported record profits during the pandemic.