S1536-119

Introduced

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to support the national defense and economic security of the United States by supporting vessels, ports, and shipyards of the United States and the United States maritime workforce through tax policy.

119th Congress Introduced Apr 30, 2025

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill creates a 33-40% investment tax credit for construction, repowering, or reconstruction of U.S, creates codifies the detailed provisions of the U.S. Vessel Investment Credit (Section 48F) including applicable percentages (33% base plus bonuses for U.S. insurance and classification), qualified vessel definitions, and exempts excludes payments made under the Maritime Security Program (MSP), Tanker Security Program, Cable Security Fleet, and other defense-related maritime programs from gross income, reducing tax burden on. It relies on exemptions, tax credits, definition changes, and tax deductions. The main policy areas are Transportation, Defense, Trade, and Finance.

Who Benefits and How

Vessel owners investing in U.S.-built ships could see lower costs, Vessel operators receiving federal maritime security payments could see lower costs, and U.S. shipyards could see lower costs.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Entities from countries of concern (China, Russia, etc.) could face higher barriers, Chinese crane manufacturers could face higher barriers, and Foreign shipbuilders could face higher barriers.

Key Provisions

  • Creates a 33-40% investment tax credit for construction, repowering, or reconstruction of U.S.
  • Creates codifies the detailed provisions of the U.S. Vessel Investment Credit (Section 48F) including applicable percentages (33% base plus bonuses for U.S. insurance and classification), qualified vessel definitions...
  • Exempts excludes payments made under the Maritime Security Program (MSP), Tanker Security Program, Cable Security Fleet, and other defense-related maritime programs from gross income, reducing tax burden on...
  • Exempts codifies Section 139J of the Internal Revenue Code excluding maritime security payments from gross income, with denial of double benefit provisions preventing deductions for expenses paid with excluded funds.
  • Exempts removes the 30-day limitation on domestic operations for vessels electing the tonnage tax regime, allowing U.S. flag vessels greater flexibility to operate in both domestic and foreign trade.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill creates a 33-40% investment tax credit for construction, repowering, or reconstruction of U.S, creates codifies the detailed provisions of the U.S. Vessel Investment Credit (Section 48F) including applicable percentages (33% base plus bonuses for U.S. insurance and classification), qualified vessel definitions, and exempts excludes payments made under the Maritime Security Program (MSP), Tanker Security Program, Cable Security Fleet, and other defense-related maritime programs from gross income, reducing tax burden on.

Key Policy Areas

Transportation, Defense, Trade, Finance

Primary Purpose

The bill creates a 33-40% investment tax credit for construction, repowering, or reconstruction of U.S, creates codifies the detailed provisions of the U.S. Vessel Investment Credit (Section 48F) including applicable percentages (33% base plus bonuses for U.S. insurance and classification), qualified vessel definitions, and exempts excludes payments made under the Maritime Security Program (MSP), Tanker Security Program, Cable Security Fleet, and other defense-related maritime programs from gross income, reducing tax burden on.

Policy Domains

Transportation Defense Trade Finance

Vessel Investment Credits (Sections 2-6)

Identified Gains
  • Vessel owners investing in U.S.-built ships
  • Vessel operators receiving federal maritime security payments
  • U.S. shipyards
  • U.S. shipbuilders and shipyards
  • Tanker Security Fleet operators
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
U.S. shipyards:
Tanker Security Fleet operators:
U.S. shipbuilders and shipyards:
Vessel owners investing in U.S.-built ships:
Vessel operators receiving federal maritime security payments:
Identified Costs
  • Entities from countries of concern (China, Russia, etc.)
  • Chinese crane manufacturers
  • Foreign shipbuilders
  • Automated cargo handling equipment manufacturers
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Foreign shipbuilders:
Chinese crane manufacturers:
Automated cargo handling equipment manufacturers:
Entities from countries of concern (China, Russia, etc.):

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Apr 30, 2025

Mr. Kelly (for himself, Mr. Young, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Baldwin, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Transportation
22 mentions across 12 clauses
+21 positive -1 negative

Bulk carrier, tanker, and container vessel owners, Cable ship operators in security programs, Cargo shipping companies

Positive-direction: Bulk carrier, tanker, and container vessel owners, Cable ship operators in security programs, Cargo shipping companies, Cargo vessel operators in foreign trade, Deep sea and coastal freight operators, Domestic coastal shipping operators, International shipping companies with U.S. management, Jones Act vessel operators, Marine component manufacturers, Marine terminal operators, Marine terminal workers, Maritime Security Program participants, Maritime industry businesses in eligible census tracts, Port communities and shipyard regions, Shipping companies with mixed domestic/foreign operations, Tanker Security Fleet operators, U.S. citizens owning foreign-flagged vessels, U.S. flag vessel operators in tonnage tax regime, Vessel operators receiving federal maritime security payments, Vessel operators with capital construction funds, Vessel owners investing in U.S.-built ships

Negative-direction: Entities from countries of concern (China, Russia, etc.)

Shipbuilding
5 mentions across 4 clauses
+4 positive -1 negative

Foreign shipbuilders, Ship and boat building businesses in designated zones, Shipyard facility investors

Positive-direction: Ship and boat building businesses in designated zones, Shipyard facility investors, U.S. shipbuilders and shipyards, U.S. shipyards

Negative-direction: Foreign shipbuilders

Manufacturing
4 mentions across 2 clauses
+2 positive -2 negative

Automated cargo handling equipment manufacturers, Chinese crane manufacturers, Shipyard equipment manufacturers

Positive-direction: Shipyard equipment manufacturers, U.S. cargo handling equipment manufacturers

Negative-direction: Automated cargo handling equipment manufacturers, Chinese crane manufacturers

National Security
2 mentions across 2 clauses
+2 positive

U.S. Navy (defense industrial base), U.S. defense industrial base

Educational Services
2 mentions across 1 clause
+2 positive

Maritime academy students receiving federal stipends, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and state maritime academies

Financial Services
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

U.S. maritime insurance companies

+1 positive

American Bureau of Shipping and U.S. classification societies

+1 positive

Qualified opportunity funds investing in maritime zones

14/16
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Transportation Defense Trade Finance
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
"maritime_administrator"
→ Maritime Administrator (MARAD)
Domains
Maritime Taxation National Defense
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
"secretary_of_navy"
→ Secretary of the Navy
"maritime_administrator"
→ Maritime Administrator
Domains
Maritime Taxation
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
Domains
Maritime Taxation
Domains
Economic Development Maritime
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
"secretary_of_navy"
→ Secretary of the Navy
"maritime_administrator"
→ Maritime Administrator

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

6 terms
"qualified vessel" §sec_2_qualified_vessel

A U.S. flag cargo vessel (bulk carrier, tanker, container, roll-on/roll-off, etc.) built in a U.S. shipyard with 10+ year operating agreement and emergency preparedness commitment, not associated with foreign entities of concern

"maritime prosperity zone" §sec_11_maritime_prosperity_zone

A census tract containing or viable for a U.S. shipyard, port, or harbor facility, designated by Maritime Administrator and certified by Treasury Secretary (max 100 tracts)

"foreign entity of concern" §sec_2_foreign_entity_of_concern

Foreign entities designated as terrorist organizations, sanctioned by OFAC, controlled by adversary governments, convicted of espionage/export violations, or designated as controlled carriers by FMC

"foreign country of concern" §sec_2_foreign_country_of_concern

A covered nation under 10 USC 4872(d) or any country determined detrimental to U.S. national security by Maritime Administrator

"qualified shipyard facility" §sec_7_qualified_shipyard_facility

A U.S. facility for constructing/repairing oceangoing vessels, manufacturing critical vessel components, or manufacturing vessel production equipment

"United States-owned foreign flag vessel" §sec_6_us_owned_foreign_flag_vessel

A vessel documented under non-adversary foreign registry, owned by U.S. citizens who also own U.S. flag vessels, managed from the U.S., with emergency preparedness agreements

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