To amend title 46, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that all cargoes procured, furnished, or financed by the Department of Transportation are transported on privately-owned commercial vessels of the United States, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
Requires the Department of Transportation and recipients of DOT financing to ensure that 100 percent of DOT-procured, furnished, or financed ocean cargo moves on privately owned United States commercial vessels when available at fair and reasonable rates.
Who Benefits and How
United States-flag vessel operators and merchant mariners could gain more cargo demand and stronger support for the domestic maritime base through a stricter cargo-preference rule.
Who Bears the Burden and How
DOT programs and financed recipients may face higher shipping costs or less flexibility when sourcing ocean transport, and foreign-flag carriers lose access to eligible cargo when United States vessels are available.
Key Provisions
- Creates a 100 percent United States-vessel requirement for DOT-procured, contracted, or financed ocean cargo.
- Applies the requirement separately across dry bulk carriers, dry cargo liners, and tankers.
- Conditions the rule on vessel availability at fair and reasonable rates.
- Requires a fair and reasonable participation of United States commercial vessels by geographic area.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires the Department of Transportation and recipients of DOT financing to ensure that 100 percent of DOT-procured, furnished, or financed ocean cargo moves on privately owned United States commercial vessels when available at fair and reasonable rates.
Key Policy Areas
Maritime, Transportation, Trade, Industrial Policy
Primary Purpose
Requires the Department of Transportation and recipients of DOT financing to ensure that 100 percent of DOT-procured, furnished, or financed ocean cargo moves on privately owned United States commercial vessels when available at fair and reasonable rates.
Policy Domains
Main Provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- United States commercial vessel operators and merchant mariners supported by stronger cargo-preference requirements
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- DOT-funded shippers and foreign-flag carriers displaced by the 100 percent United States-vessel rule
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the …
Mr. Carbajal (for himself and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
American Cargo for American Ships Act
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology