WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation to improve oversight of shipping, which lawmakers say will help curb inflation and reduce export backlogs.

The bipartisan bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 369 to 42 earlier this week. Biden said he had “promised to crack down on shipping carriers whose price hikes have hurt American families.”

The new law strengthens the investigative powers of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the US agency that oversees shipping, and increases the transparency of industry practices.

“That’s going to help start lowering shipping costs,” Biden said.

The law will allow the FMC to launch investigations into the business practices of common carriers, a term that broadly refers to cargo ships operating on the high seas.

It will also be able to apply enforcement measures and require vessels to report to the FMC the “Total Import/Export Tonnage” each calendar quarter. The law would prevent shipping carriers from unreasonably curtailing U.S. export opportunities under new rules to be determined by the FMC.

The World Shipping Council said it would work with the FMC to implement the bill “in a way that will minimize disruption to our supply chain.”

However, he added, “Shipping carriers continue to transport record volumes of cargo and have invested heavily in new capacity – America needs to make the same commitment and invest in its land-based logistics infrastructure.”

The White House said the law “will make progress in reducing costs for families and ensuring fair treatment for American businesses, including farmers and ranchers.”

Congress has few tools to fight inflation, which hit 8.6% in the 12 months to May, according to the US Consumer Price Index. Beyond the shipping bill, Democrats are also pushing measures to lower prescription drug prices. Read more

Imports at the country’s major retail container ports are expected to hit a near-record volume in June as retailers seek to meet consumer demand and protect themselves from disruptions at West Coast ports, the National said. Retail Federation in a statement last week.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by William Maclean and Richard Pullin

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.