US President Joe Biden signed a law on Thursday (29/06) aimed at reducing the cost of shipping goods by sea. For the White House, the measure will help alleviate logistics costs for retailers, which have been high since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and fueled record inflation.

Following bipartisan support in the House, the Senate voted unanimously to pass the Maritime Transportation Reform Act in March. It authorizes the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate late fees imposed by carriers and prohibits ocean carriers and marine terminals from refusing to fill available cargo space.

The president also highlighted that navigation rights are concentrated in the hands of a few large companies, which increases transport costs, harming business in the country and worsening inflation problems.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate this week by 0.75%, the highest level since 1994, after data last week showed US inflation rose to a four-year high of 8.6% in May .

“People know that prices are too high and that we have to do something, and this was one of the obvious culprits,” said Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-sponsored the bill with South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune. “There are a lot of things, but this was very glaring.” The new measures should lead shippers to reduce costs to access containers quickly, according to Klobuchar. If this does not happen, legislators can take other actions, including evaluating antitrust measures. “If I were them, I would pay close attention to the unanimous vote in the Senate, the strong vote in the House, because we may act very soon if they don’t start being fair,” she said.

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