House Hearing Says More U.S.-Flagged Vessels Needed to Meet Export Goal
On July 20, 2010, a House Transportation Subcommittee1 held a hearing entitled, “Status of U.S.-flagged Vessels in U.S.-Foreign Trade” to discuss the conditions under which operators of U.S. flag ships must compete, their challenges, and ideas for developing maritime policies that will enhance their competitiveness.
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Less Than 2% of U.S. Foreign Trade Moves on U.S. Flagged Vessels
Transportation Department Maritime Administrator Matsuda Matsuda notes that it is U.S. policy to maintain a U.S.-flag merchant marine sufficient to carry U.S. waterborne domestic commerce and a substantial part of U.S. foreign commerce. However, U.S. foreign trade carried on U.S.-flagged vessels has been declining for many years and now represents less than 2% of U.S. foreign trade.
Chair Says U.S.-Flagged Fleet Must Increase to Meet Goal of Doubling Exports
Subcommittee Chair Cummings states that the current U.S.-flagged foreign trade fleet of just over 90 vessels “can only be described as an increasingly miniscule portion of our foreign trade, and this fact has serious implications both for our merchant marine and indeed for our nation’s economy.” He wants to see the U.S.-flagged fleet expand and points out that over-reliance on foreign-flagged vessels will challenge the Administration’s goal to double U.S. exports in five years. Several of the witnesses agreed that the U.S.-flagged fleet should increase.
1The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.