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Dairy industry welcomes Biden’s call for shipping crackdown

A dairy trade policy specialist says President Biden outlining plans to crack down on shipping issues in his State of the Union address will greatly benefit the flow of ag exports.

Shawna Morris with the U.S. Dairy Export Federation and National Milk Producers Federation tells Brownfield there have long been antitrust exemptions for shipping carrier companies and Biden’s support will hopefully encourage legislative reform.

“The Ocean Shipping Reform Act is a key complement to anything the administration does because we really need to have deep changes to existing legislation to get all the way that we go on this,” she says.

The White House estimates the container shipping industry made a record $190 billion in profits in 2021, a sevenfold increase from the previous year and five times what it made over the entire period from 2010-2020.

Morris says it’s encouraging the administration has outlined more aggressive steps to improve the situation at ports.

“And take steps to make sure we’re actually having the type of robust competition that we need in that industry—it’s very welcome—as was a move on the house side this week too to introduce legislation to get that ball rolling as well,” she says. 

The House’s Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act would repeal certain antitrust exemptions for ocean common carriers and was introduced by Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA), Adrian Smith (R-NE), John Garamendi, (D-CA), and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

Disruptions in the export supply chain have cost U.S. dairy shippers over $1.5 billion in 2021 which the USDEC says is because of reduced value, higher direct costs, and lost export sales.  

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