Hoeven Joins Effort Urging FMC to Reevaluate New Container Shipping Fees at Ports

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven joined Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) in urging the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to review the new fees being imposed on shipping container carriers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports starting November 22. Both ports will begin charging ocean carriers daily dwell fees of $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments every day until the container leaves the terminal. For containers scheduled to move by truck, fees will be incurred by containers that sit for longer than nine days. For containers moving by rail, shipping lines will be charged if the container sits in the port for longer than six days.  

“These fees… ultimately will be passed onto the American consumer in the form of higher prices for goods at a time when the prices are already at record highs,” the senators wrote. “Without question, ports across the United States are experiencing unprecedented congestion and record container volumes. We are sympathetic to the strain placed on all facets of the global supply chain, but it is misguided to levy an exorbitant fee under these unprecedented circumstances. Certainly, the delays and congestion at these ports is a multi-faceted problem, but these hyper-demurrage fees are not the solution. If left in place, they will have significant consequences for importers and American consumers.”

Along with Hoeven and Moran, the letter is signed by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Shelley Moore-Capito (R-W.Va.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).

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