breaking news

The May Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the United States on Friday (10th) shows that inflation pressure is heavy. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that in order to calm the pressure of rising prices, the U.S. House of Representatives intends to adopt the "Shipping Reform Act" passed by the Senate next week to strengthen the supervision of multinational shipping operators, which will be the biggest reform in 24 years.

The leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives said that it plans to adopt the Senate's version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act next week, in order to improve the supervision power of the competent authority over the shipping business and limit the ability of the shipping industry to collect special fees, which has been criticized as a factor pushing up the price of shipping by sea.

Although the House of Representatives passed a stricter version of the shipping reform law last year, it was not until recent weeks that the leader of the House of Representatives finally decided to adopt the Senate version, instead of spending another time negotiating the compromise version of the bill.

The bill means that it will be more difficult for shipping companies to refuse goods exported in the United States. In the past two years, many shipping companies often rushed to send empty containers back to Asia, in order to benefit from the higher charges of Asian export containers.

American agricultural exporters claimed that they lost billions of dollars in revenue last year because a cabinet was hard to find. The importer complained that he was fined because of the delay in receiving and returning the container.

U.S. President Biden mentioned freight rates more than once this week. On Thursday, he called on Congress to "ban" the shipping industry. He said that the shipping industry raised the price by as much as 1,000%, which was the main reason for the increase in transportation costs.

Biden once again pointed the finger at the shipping industry in his speech at the Port of Los Angeles on Friday. He said that it was time for the nine major airlines from Asia to the United States to understand that they could not continue their current "extortion" behavior. 

The annual growth rate of consumer price index (CPI) in the United States reached a 40-year high in May, shattering the hope of inflation peaking. The public grievances caused by Qualcomm inflation are affecting the support rate of Biden's government. Analysts say that if it doesn't cool down, the Democratic Party may lose its majority in the mid-term elections in November.

Biden said on Friday, "One of the key measures to combat inflation is to reduce the cost of goods transportation. 」

According to shipping and trade officials, FMC already has most of the law enforcement tools proposed in the bill, but incorporating the details into the law will enable FMC to stand in a better position and be more courageous in taking action in the face of the legal challenges brought by airlines.

However, Christine McDaniel, a scholar at George Mei Sen University in the United States who specializes in international trade, said that the reform bill may bring unexpected consequences to the shipping industry, which was still struggling a few years ago, including setting restrictions on the shipping industry's refusal to export goods from the United States and giving the shipping industry the burden of proof for the delay. 

Due to weak consumer spending in the United States, freight rates have fallen sharply. The average spot freight rate of containers on busy routes from Asia to the West of the United States has dropped by 41% to $9,588 in the past three months. The number of container ships waiting to be unloaded in Los Angeles and Long Beach Port also decreased, reaching 20 as of Thursday, down sharply from the record 109 in January.