A letter from over 100 members of Congress was sent March 9 to the Federal Maritime Commission over continued concerns over the inability of U.S. agriculture to export goods overseas.
These concerns follow reports that "certain vessel-operating common carriers (VOCC) are declining to ship U.S. agricultural commodity exports from our ports," according to the letter, which was made public late Tuesday after having been provided to Farm Progress.
The concerns raised by agricultural exporters across the country surfaced last year, Investigations were reportedly started by the Federal Maritime Commission shortly thereafter to investigate allegations of possible illegal trade activities.
Nearly half of all agricultural production from California and about 20% of U.S. agricultural production is affected by the shipping slowdowns, lawmakers say.
Read the full report at Farm Progress.
