Input Stories

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons joined President Biden and congressional leaders of both parties yesterday at the signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. First, we’ll tell you about the importance of this new policy, but we also have an exclusive—Timmons’s own account of his chat with the president following the signing.

The legislation: The bill will provide improved oversight of ocean shipping by expanding the investigatory authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and increasing industry transparency. It is designed to help curb inflation by addressing export backlogs and supply chain difficulties.

• The legislation allows the FMC to investigate ocean carriers’ business practices and use enforcement mechanisms.
• Further, it requires carriers to report their total import/export tonnage to the FMC each quarter and bans carriers from avoiding U.S. exports without good reason, under new rules to be issued by the FMC.

What happened at the White House: Timmons tells Input that “the president was generous with his time, which allowed me the opportunity to talk with him about other parts of the NAM’s competitiveness agenda. ‘There is no reason manufacturing can’t get even stronger here in the U.S.,’ the president said to me.”

• “I agreed and told him we were working with the administration on many initiatives, but that affordable energy supply and a shortage of workers in the sector were impeding our progress. ‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused significant disruption, but we need to do better here at home on permitting and development,’ I explained.”

Flashback: Watch Timmons lay out the importance of a strong competitiveness agenda earlier this week on CNBC. Find the full the NAM competitiveness agenda here.