S4.E24 - Advisory Committees, Tariff Whiplash, and Harbor Safety Committees

the world To the beat when you see me . Come Make some room this Week in Maritime . An advisory committee heads down to Georgia , a court ruling pair of of court rulings whiplashes US importers overnight and a new Harbor Safety Committee drops anchor in southern New England . From legal limbo to local leadership , let's break it all down .

Hi , welcome back to by Land and by Sea , an attorney breaking down the weakened supply chain presented by the Maritime Professor me . I'm Lauren Began , founder of the Maritime Professor , former FMC International Affairs Attorney and also founder of Squall Strategies . By Landed , by Sea is your go-to resource for navigating the regulatory side of global ocean shipping .

Me well , I'm your favorite maritime attorney . I'm here to walk you through both ocean transport and surface transport topics and the wild world of supply chain . As always , this guidance here is general and for educational purposes only . It should not be construed to be legal advice and there is no attorney-client privilege created by this podcast or by this video .

If you need an attorney , contact an attorney . This is Planned Language Maritime created so that anybody , not just lawyers or industry insiders , can understand what's happening in the world of shipping . So let's dive into this week's episode because , as you know , ocean shipping rules the world .

All right , story number one National Shipper Advisory Committee is heading to Georgia . Let's begin with the look ahead . So next week the National Shipper Advisory Committee , or NSAC , is meeting June 4th in Garden City , georgia . They've been meeting kind of around the country , different corners .

Last meeting , I believe it was in March during TPM JOC's fantastic ocean shipping nerd camp is what I was calling it , but it is one of , if not the best , ocean shipping conferences in the world , certainly in the US . So that was the last time National Shipper Advisory Committee met .

Now they're going to be meeting in Georgia , just outside of the Port of Savannah . There will be a YouTube feed for this that they're going to be feeding out , so go to the YouTube page . If you are not familiar with FMC's YouTube page , go check it out . They have some pretty great recordings both from the MTDI but also the NSAC their own hearings .

So just a little refresher right ? Nsac is the Federal Advisory Committee to the Federal Maritime Commission , the FMC . Its creation was a major step .

It really created a way for US importers and exporters to have a formal , sustained voice in ocean shipping policy and , as a collective group , these US importers and exporters , a way to inform the FMC right , inform the FMC of current , real-time things happening . So currently it's 22 members on the committee .

It's most evenly split between importers and exporters and includes representatives from across the supply chain . They have agriculture , they have chemicals , they have retail manufacturing . These are all industry players who face supply chain pressures firsthand and through this platform can shape federal oversight in current events .

So the FMC doesn't have to take their recommendations or doesn't have to take their input , but certainly it's a fantastic way to engage in that conversation , to have the industry have an available resource or an available open line of communication through this Federal Advisory Committee . A quick note on Federal Advisory Committee .

So the Federal Advisory Committees exist across government and play a crucial role in shaping public policy . These are formal bodies established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act . You'll often hear of these called FACAs . That's the Federal Advisory Committee Act . That's kind of a general way of calling Federal Advisory Committees FACAs Committee Act .

That's kind of a general way of calling federal advisory committees , facas . They provide structured , ongoing advice from outside experts , industry leaders , academics , labor representatives and community stakeholders in general across the federal government .

These federal advisory committees in general do not make laws or regulations but are designed to kind of inject frontline expertise into the federal decision-making process . They help ensure that the people affected by the policy are part of that conversation and most times , hopefully in an early stage of those discussions .

So , whether it's port operations , safety planning , environmental regulation , trade , logistics , advisory committees across all areas of federal government , but certainly those are probably the areas that affect us the most .

Like NSAC , like the National Shipper Advisory Committees , these advisory committees create and provide credibility , accountability and real-world grounding to federal agencies that otherwise operate at more of a distance . Right , having these open lines of communication is so fantastic for any industry , but especially the shipper group . Right ?

I mean we have importers , exporters , on this National Shipper Advisory . So what's happening ?

At NSAC's meeting on June 4th the committee is going to recognize newly appointed member representatives , but they're also going to be hearing updates from three of their key subcommittees , which include Data Visibility , where they've been focusing on cargo tracking system , interoperability and transparency .

The Fees and Surcharges Subcommittee , which addresses detention , demerge and related commercial charges . And the best practices committee , which is sharing operational strategies to improve flow , reduce delays and build resilience .

The overall committee is also going to be reviewing findings from a refusal to deal working group , which is analyzing market access concerns , particularly for smaller exporters who have struggled to get space on vessels or to receive responses from carriers . That's what that refusal to deal working group is .

They're also going to be looking at delivering industry updates from both the import and the export communities . And this one's kind of interesting they're going to be discussing a recommendation to establish an ocean carrier advisory committee . Now , this last item is something that's been talked about for years .

It was first proposed formally by Commissioner Rebecca Dye when she was working on her fact findings . I believe it was in both fact finding 29 and 30 , certainly in 29 . Yeah , go take a look . But that's where this idea , I think , first came up , this Ocean Carrier Advisory Committee .

So the idea is to create a structured forum for ocean carriers parallel to the NSAC . Right , if we have the shippers , we probably should have the carriers also part of those discussions . It would allow carriers to engage with the FMC in a more formalized , transparent way .

There certainly is engagement now between FMC and the ocean carriers , but this would create kind of that you can peek behind the curtain thing , right , but this would create kind of that you can peek behind the curtain thing right that anytime you get this advisory committee , their full meetings are public and streamed out .

So that would be a really wonderful way to see a little bit more of the discussion , the conversation between ocean carrier side of things and the FMC . So why this matters this committee is sharing real-time concerns from the industry . Like I said , that's kind of what FACAs do , but this is great that it's now available under the FMC because the NSAC is new .

They talk about topics that fall squarely within the FMC's jurisdiction , like detention and demurrage , data visibility and carrier conduct .

It's a fantastic way for the industry to engage directly with the agency , bringing operational issues and policy recommendations to the surface early , right Early , that we want to make sure that these conversations are being had early as the FMC navigates their decisions , ultimately in any of the dockets that they have in front of them all the lawsuits that are kind

of currently pending , but also regulations . We're in a deregulatory period , right , we've talked about this before . Under the new Trump administration Former Trump Trump 1 , had a for every one new regulation , you had to repeal two government actions or regulations . Now , the current advice is for every one new , you have to repeal 10 .

So we're not going to be seeing a lot of new regulations coming out from really any agency . But , as they are discussing guidance , there are certainly a few regs that they do have to get out , like the charge complaints formal process . But it's so important to have these FACAs and especially the National Shipper Advisory Committee .

This meeting , and really all their meetings , can help lay the groundwork for where the FMC goes by having this ongoing dialogue with the industry . All right . Story number

two this one I'm not going to talk too much about . It is still very fresh . I wanted to bring it to your attention but I didn't want to go too far into it . So in basically the span of 24 hours , us importers are getting whiplash right . So an appeals court temporarily reinstates tariffs amid ongoing legal uncertainty .

So on May 29th , the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reinstated Trump-era tariffs that had just been struck down the day before . The day before . So , on the 28th , was a ruling issued by the US Court of International Trade and they had declared these tariffs unconstitutional under the International Emergency Economics Powers Act .

So the IEEPA you might be seeing that kind of floating around LinkedIn in the past 48 hours , really but IEPA , the International Emergency Economics Powers Act that these tariffs were squarely situated on , or the justification provided for the tariffs .

So now , with the appeal in motion , right , so we had the US Court of International Trade saying unconstitutional and then we had a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit saying it's back . So that's where we're at .

It looks like , as of right now , the tariffs are back on temporarily , and I say all of this with caution because I'm not really sure where it's all going , right ? Here's the thing .

From what I understand and I have to dive into these a little bit further it looks like the appeals court didn't fully explain the stay , the reinstated Trump tariffs so we're a little bit in legal limbo , and what this basically means is the importers are stuck waiting for the answers .

Right , so a 10% across the board tariff and elevated rates on certain countries are back in effect . That's what is at issue here , as I understand it . Again , very fluid stuff .

Importers don't know if they'll have to pay retroactively or whether refunds might follow right , because these have been already in effect and now the court is saying the US Court of International Trade said unconstitutional , but now the federal court for US Court of Appeals is saying it's fine , it's back in .

There's a lot of questions on what this means and that's why , like I said , I don't want to go too far into the specifics . I highly recommend that you consult an attorney specifically on your specific issue . There are trade tariff attorneys out there . Just like I'm an ocean shipping , global ocean shipping attorney .

There are trade and tariff attorneys out there that are fantastic . Look , it looks like we're not going to get much clarity until June 9th . Unfortunately , a full decision won't come until after a briefing schedule that runs through June 9th . So it's going to move quickly . I mean , that's light speed . 10 days from now is light speed .

No-transcript Business obviously likes certainty . We're also up against remember the 90-day pause on . At least part of them is supposed to be around early July . So I think that we're going to see a very active June with respect to the tariffs . We'll see . I'm going to keep watching it .

I'm not going to dive too far into it until we get more certainty , but I'll still bring things to your attention , as I always do . I don't want to get ahead of anything and I certainly don't have a crystal ball . So nobody does so if you are following all of this , people can have educated guesses , but that's kind of what it is .

Until we get a little bit more clarity from the courts , we're stuck . So make educated guesses , make educated decisions yourself . Stay informed on what's going on in the industry generally . All right . Story . Number three this one's kind of fun Harbor Safety Committee sets sail in southern New England . So

this is some good news . Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts Harbor Safety Committee I have no idea what the acronym is going to be the RISM Harbor Safety Committee . The Rhode Island and Southern Mass held its first meeting this week in Bristol , rhode Island . This is fantastic .

The newly formed group brings together port authorities , pilots , tug companies , environmental voices , coast Guard . Coast Guard stays closely engaged with Harbor Safety Committees , so their mission is to improve safety coordination and environmental practices in regional harbors . Harbor safety committees are something that are across the country .

They're fantastic opportunities for regional engagement with Coast Guard entities , for aids to navigation , for safety and security of the local regional areas . Look , so harbor safety committees were actually formally recognized in the Coast Guard NAVIC . So these are the NVIC . This is the 0100 . It was issued in 2000 . So actually I think it was right before 9-11 .

I want to say it was right around that time . So Harbor Safety Committees formally recognized and created . It was actually the same year and the same NAVIC that the Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee was created . So that's the MTSNAC that I talk about . That's where I proudly serve as the vice chair of that federal committee .

But we're not talking about MTSNAC , we're talking about Harbor Safety Committees . Harbor Safety Committees are practical local partnerships . Like I said , they solve regional specific problems like anchorage , conflicts , incident response . That's a huge one . So you get the engagement of the private area , industry stakeholders engaging with the Coast Guard .

They also talk about harbor access planning . In the Massachusetts area we see a lot of designated port area discussion , but also safety and security right . That's going to be the biggest issue . They are active all over the country . Lone Star down in Texas is one of the most active . We also have the Mass Bay Harbor Safety Committee . I'm on the board there .

But this new Rhode Island Southern Mass Harbor Safety Committee is covering an area that was previously not quite covered and really needed it right .

I mean you have Narragansett Bay that does have commercial traffic and some large vessels coming through there , right alongside some of the fantastic sailing world's best sailing and just consistent winds coming into Narragansett Bay . So these are all wonderful things moving forward to help with the overall safety of areas like this .

Like I said , they solve these regional problems and they ensure local voices are part of that . National Maritime Safety Goals in the regional area . They can be certainly taken up from the sectors and the districts of the different Coast Guard areas . But a big congratulations to the Rhode Island and Southern Mass Harbor Safety Committee on their successful launch .

This kind of local coordination is essential for safe , efficient and sustained port operations . If you are not already part of a Harbor Safety Committee in your area , I really highly suggest you look one up . They really are fantastic . That's it for today . It was a quick

one right . So we covered the National Shipper Advisory Committee heading to Georgia next week for June 4th meeting . We're still waiting to hear what's going on with these 10% tariffs , kind of all the other tariffs associated with it .

And again , a great congratulations to the Rhode Island and Southern Mass Harbor Safety Committee officially launching this week strengthening local coordination on safety import practices . If you liked this episode , be sure to follow , subscribe and leave a review . Want to go deeper on these topics or bring this kind of insight to your team ?

Visit themaritimeprofessorcom to explore corporate trainings , tailored briefings and on-demand webinars , all designed to make complex maritime regulations practical and easy to understand . And if your organization needs help navigating the legal or strategic side of ocean shipping regulations , head over to Squall Strategies .

That's where I provide consulting services , regulatory guidance , policy support for clients working directly with the FMC and really across the global supply chain . We take the specific nuances of your problems and turn them into guidance . As always , this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice . This is not considered legal advice .

If you need an attorney , contact an attorney . Until next time , I'm Lauren Beacon , the Maritime Professor and you've just listened to by Land and by Sea . We'll see you next time .