The Act was passed unanimously in the Senate in March.

Supporters of the Act say it will help curb inflation and ease export backlogs. Biden said in a statement that he looked forward to signing it into law.

It would allow FMC to launch probes of ocean common carriers' business practices and to apply enforcement measures, require ocean common carriers to report to the FMC total import-export tonnage each calendar quarter and would bar ocean carriers from unreasonably declining opportunities for US exports under new rules to be determined by the FMC.

Senator Maria Cantwell said the bill gives the FMC "the tools it needs to cut down on extraneous shipping costs and stop shipping carriers from leaving American products like apples, hay, milk and potatoes behind."

"Inflation is the greatest frustration America has right now, and backlogs at our ports are one of the biggest drivers of price hikes that we will address through this bill," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)