USA Maritime supports and calls for the immediate and strongest possible enforcement of the cargo preference laws, and urgently requests an implementing regulation to 46 U.S.C. § 55305, which would give the Maritime Administration (“
MARAD”) the necessary enforcement tools to strengthen the economic viability of the U.S.-flag internationally-trading fleet in this time of great national need. Cargo preference is a necessary and cost-efficient way to sustain the privately owned U.S.-flag commercial fleet, which is both a critical national defense asset and a critical component of domestic supply-chain resilience. Without cargo preference, the U.S. Government would have to spend far in excess of the cost of cargo preference in direct spending to replicate the national security capabilities of the privately owned U.S.-flag commercial fleet.
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