Politics progressively a factor in the suppy chain

The Republican half of the Congressional duo behind the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022), which brought a pro-cargo shipper regulatory bite to a Federal agency previously known for its deregulation of liner shipping, is now at it again. In an increasingly partisan legislative environment, the House of Representatives passed a bill dubbed “Ocean Shipping Reform 2.0” (introduced into Congress in 2023), which takes aim at: “…Chinese state-sponsored LOGINK software, allows the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to investigate foreign shipping exchanges like the Shanghai Shipping Exchange <SSE> to preempt improper business practices.”

The bill’s prospects in the Senate are unclear. The LOGINK platform has, at the time of writing, not been deployed directly in U.S. ports, but does figure in relation to digital platforms (some of which are cooperating with the SSE) used by logisticians handling cargo moved into the States. Meantime, recent concerns about maritime cyber-security have put cargo cranes used in multiple U.S. ports into the spotlight; language in an end-February Biden administration Executive Order encouraging purchases of cranes to be manufactured in the States (a work-in-progress at this point), is aimed at “bringing domestic onshore manufacturing capacity back to America to provide safe, secure cranes to U.S. ports – thanks to an over US$20 billion investment in U.S. port infrastructure under President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.”

While these battles are raging on Capitol Hill (which I point out is approximately 40 miles from the deep-sea docks at Baltimore and 150 miles from the terminals in the Norfolk area if you bypass the I-95 motorway). some realism is always a good thing. The recent monthly web-blast from a large media- savvy U.S. West Coast port featured an interview with a highly-informed top liner carrier executive handling trade into the Pacific region. In referring specifically to the Chinese cranes, the interviewee (responding to a reporter’s question on cyber-matters) said: “The steel/ assembly is Chinese, but the control systems- which communicate…are non-PRC. They are from countries like Germany, Japan and Malaysia.” I do not claim to have seen these cranes up close and personally, but perhaps the House and Senate might organise a bus tour over to Baltimore and Norfolk to check out the relevant hardware.