2月28日美國(guó)政府聯(lián)合了美國(guó)還是聯(lián)邦委員會(huì)和司法部宣布了一個(gè)歷史性的法案：對(duì)于降低海運(yùn)運(yùn)輸價(jià)格和創(chuàng)造公平的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境，開(kāi)始進(jìn)行大規(guī)模的調(diào)查。?

這個(gè)法規(guī)的精神主要與創(chuàng)造一個(gè)公平的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境這一直是美國(guó)立法的精神！也就是反壟斷的精神。

在過(guò)去這一年多的時(shí)間里面，中國(guó)的工廠貿(mào)易商還有美國(guó)的進(jìn)口商所承受的運(yùn)輸成本的增加，包括了：海運(yùn)運(yùn)費(fèi)的增加，碼頭儲(chǔ)存費(fèi)和滯箱費(fèi)的增加，碼頭車(chē)架費(fèi)用的增加，港口操作費(fèi)用的增加，這些成本的增加都是讓美國(guó)的進(jìn)出口公司買(mǎi)單！當(dāng)然最終還是轉(zhuǎn)嫁到美國(guó)的消費(fèi)者身上！船公司和碼頭賺得的滿坑滿谷，對(duì)消費(fèi)者和進(jìn)出口貿(mào)易商產(chǎn)生的不公平的待遇！

美國(guó)聯(lián)邦還是委員會(huì)已經(jīng)成立了投訴小組，針對(duì)不公平的不合理的收費(fèi)，替出口商提供一個(gè)申訴的管道.

我們很高興看到美國(guó)政府出面面對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題！希望這個(gè)法案的執(zhí)行能夠?yàn)槊绹?guó)的消費(fèi)者還有中國(guó)的供貨商提供一個(gè)公平的待遇！?

以下是這個(gè)方案的中英文對(duì)照：

FACT SHEET: Lowering Prices and Leveling the Playing Field in Ocean Shipping

實(shí)況報(bào)道：降低遠(yuǎn)洋運(yùn)輸價(jià)格和創(chuàng)造公平的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

2月 28， 2022

聲明和發(fā)布

The President is announcing an historic agreement between the Department of Justice and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to make sure that large ocean freight companies cannot take advantage of U.S. businesses and consumers. Right now, three global alliances, made up entirely of foreign companies, control almost all of ocean freight shipping, giving them power to raise prices for American businesses and consumers, while threatening our national security and economic competitiveness.

總統(tǒng)宣布司法部和聯(lián)邦海事委員會(huì)（FMC）之間達(dá)成一項(xiàng)歷史性協(xié)議，以確保大型海運(yùn)公司不能利用美國(guó)企業(yè)和消費(fèi)者。目前，完全由外國(guó)公司組成的三個(gè)全球聯(lián)盟控制著幾乎所有的海運(yùn)，使它們有能力提高美國(guó)企業(yè)和消費(fèi)者的價(jià)格，同時(shí)威脅到我們的國(guó)家安全和經(jīng)濟(jì)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

Most traded goods—everything from the housewares you buy online to the agricultural products American farmers market overseas—are transported by ocean freight companies. These companies have formed global alliances—groups of ocean carrier companies that work together—that now control 80% of global container ship capacity and control 95% of the critical East-West trade lines. This consolidation happened rapidly over the last decade. From 1996 to 2011, the leading three alliances operated only about 30% of global container shipping. Significant consolidation occurred in the years running up to the Pandemic.   

大多數(shù)貿(mào)易商品——從你在網(wǎng)上購(gòu)買(mǎi)的家庭用品到海外的美國(guó)農(nóng)貿(mào)市場(chǎng)——都是由海運(yùn)公司運(yùn)輸?shù)?。這些公司已經(jīng)形成了全球聯(lián)盟——由共同合作的海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公司組成——現(xiàn)在控制著全球80%的集裝箱船運(yùn)力，控制著95%的關(guān)鍵東西方貿(mào)易線。這種整合在過(guò)去十年中迅速發(fā)生。從1996年到2011年，領(lǐng)先的三個(gè)聯(lián)盟僅運(yùn)營(yíng)全球集裝箱運(yùn)輸?shù)?0%左右。在疫情大流行之前的幾年中發(fā)生了重大的整合。  

Since the beginning of the pandemic, these ocean carrier companies have been dramatically increasing shipping costs through rate increases and fees. They increased spot rates for freight shipping between Asia and the United States by 100% since January 2020, and increased rates for freight shipping between the United States and Asia by over 1,000% over the same period. Oftentimes cargo owners are charged fees—known as “detention and demurrage” fees—even when they can’t get access to their containers to move them. The FMC estimates that from July to September of 2021, eight of the largest carriers charged customers fees totaling $2.2 billion—a 50% increase on the previous three-month period.

自疫情大流行開(kāi)始以來(lái)，這些海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公司一直在通過(guò)提高費(fèi)率和費(fèi)用來(lái)大幅增加運(yùn)輸成本。自2020年1月以來(lái)，他們將亞洲和美國(guó)之間的貨運(yùn)現(xiàn)貨費(fèi)率提高了100%，同期美國(guó)和亞洲之間的貨運(yùn)費(fèi)率提高了1000%以上。通常，貨主會(huì)被收取費(fèi)用 - 稱為"滯留和滯期費(fèi)" - 即使他們無(wú)法進(jìn)入集裝箱來(lái)移動(dòng)它們。FMC估計(jì)，從2021年7月到9月，八家最大的運(yùn)營(yíng)商向客戶收取的費(fèi)用總計(jì)22億美元，比前三個(gè)月增加了50%。

These historically large shipping price increases translate into higher prices for American consumers. Based on research by the Kansas City Fed and the European Central Bank, these shipping cost increases are expected to contribute to approximately a 1% increase in consumer prices over the next year.

這些歷史上巨大的運(yùn)輸價(jià)格上漲轉(zhuǎn)化為美國(guó)消費(fèi)者的價(jià)格上漲。根據(jù)堪薩斯城聯(lián)儲(chǔ)和歐洲央行的研究，這些運(yùn)輸成本的增加預(yù)計(jì)將導(dǎo)致明年消費(fèi)者價(jià)格上漲約1%。

Meanwhile, the ocean carrier companies are experiencing elevated profits and soaring profit margins. Estimates suggest that the container shipping industry made a record $190 billion in profits in 2021, a seven-fold increase from the previous year and five times what it made over the entire period from 2010-2020. Profit margins have increased by even larger amounts. In the third quarter of 2021, the average operating margin of the major carriers was about 56%, compared to an average operating margin of 3.7% two years earlier:

與此同時(shí)，海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公司正在經(jīng)歷利潤(rùn)上升和利潤(rùn)率飆升。據(jù)估計(jì)，集裝箱航運(yùn)業(yè)在2021年的利潤(rùn)達(dá)到了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的1900億美元，比上一年增長(zhǎng)了七倍，是2010年至2020年整個(gè)時(shí)期的五倍。利潤(rùn)率增加了更大的幅度。2021年第三季度，主要航空公司的平均營(yíng)業(yè)利潤(rùn)率約為56%，而兩年前的平均營(yíng)業(yè)利潤(rùn)率為3.7%：

Beyond price increases, several specific business practices of many large ocean carrier companies are hurting American businesses and farmers. For example, because of their market power, these alliances are able to cancel or change bookings and impose additional fees without notice. These unpredictable practices undermine American business’ ability to deliver orders on time. All too often, ocean carriers are effectively refusing to take American exports altogether, preferring to speed back to China with an empty ship to make a quick turnaround rather than transport American exporters’ cargo or dock at American ports. This is especially difficult to our farmers, who have spent decades building relationships internationally, only to find that now they can’t transport their agricultural products overseas with any reliability or predictability.

除了價(jià)格上漲之外，許多大型海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公司的一些具體商業(yè)行為正在傷害美國(guó)企業(yè)和農(nóng)民。例如，由于其市場(chǎng)力量，這些聯(lián)盟能夠取消或更改預(yù)訂并收取額外費(fèi)用，恕不另行通知。這些不可預(yù)測(cè)的做法破壞了美國(guó)企業(yè)按時(shí)交付訂單的能力。很多時(shí)候，海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人實(shí)際上完全拒絕接受美國(guó)的出口，寧愿用一艘空船快速返回中國(guó)，以快速周轉(zhuǎn)，而不是運(yùn)輸美國(guó)出口商的貨物或?？吭诿绹?guó)港口。這對(duì)我們的農(nóng)民來(lái)說(shuō)尤其困難，他們花了幾十年的時(shí)間在國(guó)際上建立關(guān)系，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)在他們無(wú)法以任何可靠性或可預(yù)測(cè)性將農(nóng)產(chǎn)品運(yùn)往海外。

The carriers have also continued to pursue practices that directly contribute to port congestion, such as imposing “box rules” that require truckers to use only certain trailers to haul their containers—thus forcing truckers to wait for the “right” kind of trailer to become available. That leads to lower pay and longer wait times for our nation’s truck drivers, who get paid per box, and allows the ocean carriers to generate even higher detention and demurrage fees.

承運(yùn)人還繼續(xù)追求直接導(dǎo)致港口擁堵的做法，例如實(shí)施"箱式規(guī)則"，要求卡車(chē)司機(jī)僅使用某些拖車(chē)來(lái)運(yùn)輸集裝箱 - 從而迫使卡車(chē)司機(jī)等待"正確"類型的拖車(chē)可用。這導(dǎo)致我們國(guó)家的卡車(chē)司機(jī)的工資更低，等待時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)，他們每箱獲得報(bào)酬，并允許海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人產(chǎn)生更高的滯留費(fèi)和滯期費(fèi)。

A century ago, in the original Ocean Shipping Act, Congress provided for utility-style regulation of ocean carriers, paired with antitrust immunity for ocean carrier alliance agreements only when the alliance was in the “public interest.” But Congress steadily deregulated the industry—expanding the antitrust immunity while weakening ocean carriers’ obligations to publicly disclose prices and fees and treat businesses and their customers fairly. That is how we have arrived at the point where three alliances can dominate the market for ocean shipping and squeeze American businesses and consumers.

一個(gè)世紀(jì)前，在最初的《遠(yuǎn)洋運(yùn)輸法》中，國(guó)會(huì)規(guī)定了對(duì)海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人的公用事業(yè)式監(jiān)管，只有在聯(lián)盟符合"公共利益"時(shí)，才對(duì)海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人聯(lián)盟協(xié)議給予反壟斷豁免。但國(guó)會(huì)穩(wěn)步放松了對(duì)該行業(yè)的管制，擴(kuò)大了反壟斷豁免權(quán)，同時(shí)削弱了海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公開(kāi)披露價(jià)格和費(fèi)用以及公平對(duì)待企業(yè)及其客戶的義務(wù)。這就是我們?nèi)绾芜_(dá)到三個(gè)聯(lián)盟可以主導(dǎo)遠(yuǎn)洋運(yùn)輸市場(chǎng)并擠壓美國(guó)企業(yè)和消費(fèi)者的地步。

The Biden-Harris Administration is taking steps to lower consumer prices and level the playing field in ocean shipping:

拜登-哈里斯政府正在采取措施降低消費(fèi)者價(jià)格，并在海運(yùn)領(lǐng)域創(chuàng)造公平的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境：

?Today, the FMC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are announcing a new joint initiative to promote competition in the ocean freight transportation system. Under the new initiative, DOJ will provide the FMC with the support of attorneys and economists from the Antitrust Division for enforcement of violations of the Shipping Act and related laws. The FMC will provide the Antitrust Division with support and maritime industry expertise for Sherman Act and Clayton Act enforcement actions. The agencies’ announcement explains that competition in the maritime industry is integral to lowering prices, improving quality of service, and strengthening the resilience of supply chains.

This initiative grew out of the “whole of government” approach to competition established by the President’s July Executive Order on Promoting Competition. The FMC and the DOJ are both part of the White House Competition Council established by the Order. Their partnership builds on an information-sharing Memorandum of Understanding that the agencies entered into in July.

今天，F(xiàn)MC和司法部（DOJ）宣布了一項(xiàng)新的聯(lián)合舉措，以促進(jìn)海運(yùn)系統(tǒng)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。根據(jù)這項(xiàng)新舉措，司法部將向FMC提供反托拉斯司律師和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的支持，以執(zhí)行違反《航運(yùn)法》和相關(guān)法律的行為。FMC將為反壟斷司提供支持和海事行業(yè)專業(yè)知識(shí)，以開(kāi)展《謝爾曼法案》和《克萊頓法案》的執(zhí)法行動(dòng)。這些機(jī)構(gòu)的聲明解釋說(shuō)，海運(yùn)業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)于降低價(jià)格，提高服務(wù)質(zhì)量和加強(qiáng)供應(yīng)鏈的彈性是不可或缺的。

這項(xiàng)倡議源于總統(tǒng)七月關(guān)于促進(jìn)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的行政命令所確立的"整個(gè)政府"的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)方法。FMC和司法部都是該命令建立的白宮競(jìng)爭(zhēng)委員會(huì)的一部分。他們的伙伴關(guān)系建立在各機(jī)構(gòu)于7月簽訂的信息共享諒解備忘錄的基礎(chǔ)上。

?The FMC will continue ramping up oversight of the global ocean shipping industry. Since last summer, the FMC has established a new audit program backed by an audit team to address complaints about carriers charging unfair fees, demanded justification from the carriers about their fees, launched 42 cases investigating port congestion charges, and took steps to address barriers to filing complaints at the FMC and to prevent retaliation against complainants. It also launched a new data initiative to identify data constraints that are adding to supply chain congestion. This month, the FMC also sought comments on reforms to how carriers charge shippers fees.

FMC將繼續(xù)加強(qiáng)對(duì)全球遠(yuǎn)洋航運(yùn)業(yè)的監(jiān)管。自去年夏天以來(lái)，F(xiàn)MC建立了一個(gè)由審計(jì)小組支持的新審計(jì)計(jì)劃，以解決有關(guān)運(yùn)營(yíng)商收取不公平費(fèi)用的投訴，要求運(yùn)營(yíng)商就其費(fèi)用提出理由，啟動(dòng)了42起調(diào)查港口擁堵費(fèi)的案件，并采取措施解決向FMC提交投訴的障礙，并防止對(duì)投訴人的報(bào)復(fù)。它還啟動(dòng)了一項(xiàng)新的數(shù)據(jù)計(jì)劃，以確定加劇供應(yīng)鏈擁堵的數(shù)據(jù)限制。本月，F(xiàn)MC還就承運(yùn)人如何向托運(yùn)人收取費(fèi)用的改革征求意見(jiàn)。

The Administration, led by Port Envoy John Porcari, has also worked with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to develop new fees on ocean carrier companies for letting cargo sit on the docks for over nine days. These long-dwelling import containers had been causing delays in getting goods to shelves while increasing port congestion. Since the announcement of the proposed fee, the number of long-dwelling containers on the docks has fallen more than 70 percent. Building on the success of the proposed carrier fee, the Administration is working with the ports on charging the carriers for long-dwelling empty containers that have been clogging the docks. There has been a more than 25 percent drop in the number of empty containers on the docks at the Port of Los Angeles since that announcement.

由港口特使約翰·波爾卡里（John Porcari）領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的政府還與洛杉磯港和長(zhǎng)灘港合作，為海運(yùn)承運(yùn)人公司制定新的費(fèi)用，讓貨物在碼頭上停留超過(guò)九天。這些長(zhǎng)住的進(jìn)口集裝箱一直在造成貨物上架的延誤，同時(shí)加劇了港口擁堵。自宣布擬議費(fèi)用以來(lái)，碼頭上的長(zhǎng)住集裝箱數(shù)量下降了70%以上。在擬議的承運(yùn)人費(fèi)取得成功的基礎(chǔ)上，行政當(dāng)局正在與港口合作，向承運(yùn)人收取長(zhǎng)期居住的空集裝箱的費(fèi)用，這些集裝箱一直堵塞碼頭。自宣布以來(lái)，洛杉磯港碼頭上的空集裝箱數(shù)量下降了25%以上。

The need for reform to our ocean freight transportation system to improve fluidity and fairness, particularly for our agricultural exporters, was underscored last week in reports released by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of the Administration’s six supply chain industrial base reports published on the one-year anniversary of the President’s supply chain executive order.

運(yùn)輸部和農(nóng)業(yè)部（USDA）上周發(fā)布的報(bào)告強(qiáng)調(diào)了改革我們的海運(yùn)系統(tǒng)的必要性，以改善流動(dòng)性和公平性，特別是對(duì)我們的農(nóng)業(yè)出口商而言，這是政府在總統(tǒng)一周年之際發(fā)布的六份供應(yīng)鏈工業(yè)基礎(chǔ)報(bào)告的一部分。供應(yīng)鏈行政命令。

?The President is calling on Congress to pass robust reforms to the ocean shipping industry, including reforms that address the current antitrust immunity for ocean shipping alliances. In addition to the important administrative actions announced today, the President believes Congress should provide additional tools for the Administration to address problems in the ocean shipping industry. The President is encouraged by action in both Houses of Congress to address these problems. He is calling on Congress to also address the immunity of alliance agreements from antitrust scrutiny under current law.

總統(tǒng)呼吁國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)對(duì)海運(yùn)業(yè)的強(qiáng)有力的改革，包括解決目前遠(yuǎn)洋運(yùn)輸聯(lián)盟反壟斷豁免權(quán)的改革。除了今天宣布的重要行政行動(dòng)外，總統(tǒng)認(rèn)為國(guó)會(huì)應(yīng)該為政府提供額外的工具，以解決海運(yùn)業(yè)的問(wèn)題?？偨y(tǒng)對(duì)國(guó)會(huì)兩院為解決這些問(wèn)題而采取的行動(dòng)感到鼓舞。他呼吁國(guó)會(huì)也解決聯(lián)盟協(xié)議在現(xiàn)行法律下免受反壟斷審查的問(wèn)題。