Federal Maritime Commission Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill funds and updates the work of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which oversees ocean shipping. It sets the FMC’s budget for 2026–2029 and raises it each year to support its mission to keep ocean freight fair and reliable. It also lets people report suspected price manipulation or other unfair behavior by shipping exchanges; the FMC must investigate and share findings of proven cases with Congress. The bill updates who counts as a “controlled” ocean carrier to include companies tied to certain foreign governments or firms, strengthening oversight of foreign-linked carriers.

To reduce red tape, the FMC’s quarterly data reports should not duplicate information already sent to other federal agencies. It also adds a rule to keep investigation records confidential unless the Commission votes to release them for a case. These steps aim to improve data quality and protect sensitive information. The bill refreshes national advisory committees for shippers, ports, and ocean carriers to give the FMC real-world advice; for example, the Port Committee includes port authorities, marine terminal operators, and maritime labor, and all the committees advise on the competitiveness and reliability of ocean freight. The FMC must also study trade imbalances in its annual report and publish results from its carrier audit program. Finally, the FMC must start and finish new rules on price indexes for containerized ocean freight within one and three years, respectively, to help shippers understand pricing better .

Key points

• Who is affected: ocean shippers and importers, port authorities, terminal operators, ocean carriers, and shipping exchanges, plus the FMC that oversees them .
• What changes:
  • FMC funding levels increase each year from 2026–2029.
  • Anyone can report suspected market manipulation by shipping exchanges; FMC must investigate and report confirmed problems to Congress.
  • Tighter oversight of foreign-linked “controlled” carriers.
  • Less duplicate data reporting and stronger confidentiality for investigations.
  • Stronger advisory committees and added analysis of trade imbalances in FMC annual reports .
  • New rules coming on container freight price indexes for shippers.
• When: Funding covers fiscal years 2026–2029; the FMC must start price-index rulemaking within 1 year and finish within 3 years of the law taking effect .