New Maritime Bill Allows Foreign Ships to Carry U.S. Goods if Domestic Vessels Are Unavailable: 60-Day Clock for Government Approval Starts Now.

Under a long-standing law known as the Jones Act, goods moved between two U.S. ports must be carried on ships that are built, owned, and crewed by Americans. The Protecting Access to American Products Act creates a bypass for this rule, allowing companies to use foreign-flagged 'product carriers'—ships designed for specific bulk goods—if they can prove a U.S. ship isn't available. To get this waiver, a business has to show they made a 'good faith effort' to find a domestic ship, and the government has a strict 60-day window to either say yes or no. If the agency misses that deadline, the waiver is automatically granted for 30 days.

The 'Good Faith' Speed Bump

This bill is designed to keep supply chains moving when domestic ships are tied up or non-existent for certain specialized cargo. For example, if a refinery needs to move a specific chemical from Texas to Florida and every U.S. tanker is booked for months, this law lets them hire a foreign vessel to prevent a shortage. However, the bill relies heavily on the phrase 'good faith effort' (Section 2). In the real world, that’s a bit of a gray area. A large corporation might argue they tried their best to find a U.S. ship, while a domestic vessel operator might argue they were available but just slightly more expensive. Without a strict definition of what 'trying' looks like, this could lead to more foreign ships handling domestic routes than originally intended.

The 60-Day Countdown

One of the most interesting parts of this bill is the 'use it or lose it' pressure it puts on federal agencies. According to Section 2, if the government doesn't deny a request within 60 days, the applicant wins by default. For a busy office worker or a small business owner, this sounds like a dream—government efficiency at its finest. But there’s a catch: if an agency is understaffed or overwhelmed with paperwork, waivers could be 'automatically granted' without anyone actually checking if a U.S. ship was truly unavailable. This could lead to a scenario where domestic sailors and shipbuilders lose out on work simply because a bureaucrat’s inbox was too full to hit 'deny' by day 61.

Transparency and Long-Term Shifts

To keep things honest, the bill requires the agency to notify Congress within 48 hours of every request and every approval. This is the 'receipts' phase of the legislation, ensuring that lawmakers can see exactly how often these waivers are being used. While the waivers are temporary—lasting at least 30 days—they can be extended in 15-day increments indefinitely if the situation hasn't changed. For the maritime industry, this is a double-edged sword. It might lower shipping costs and prevent empty shelves in the short term, but if these 'temporary' waivers become the new normal, it could discourage investment in building new U.S. ships, potentially impacting long-term jobs in American shipyards.