All Aboard For The Biden Transition: Climate, Cabotage And Competition

Once he assumes office on Jan. 20, 2021, President-Elect Joe Biden will quickly need to develop a comprehensive strategy regarding U.S. ocean trade, offshore industry issues and maritime infrastructure development. There will be many challenges regarding the U.S. regulatory structure, in many ways untouched during the last four years. An immediate concern is a series of maritime trade dislocations directly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact upon international trade at all levels. The new administration will also need to address longer-term regulatory interpretation issues pending with respect to the U.S. "Jones Act" cabotage laws. Another long-range issue is the competitive relationship and balance between the major global containership lines and U.S. marine terminal operators, which affects capital markets availability for the purpose of upgrading U.S. port infrastructure. Wrapped around all these challenges is the looming issue of how climate and