I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6488 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish a grant program for 

the procurement of megacranes for use at United States ports, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2022 

Mr. GIMENEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish a grant 

program for the procurement of megacranes for use at 

United States ports, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Port Cranes for Amer5 ica Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MEGACRANE PROCUREMENT GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 Section 50302 of title 46, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) MEGACRANE PROCUREMENT GRANT PRO2 GRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

4 Maritime Administration shall provide grants to eli5 gible applicants for the procurement of certain 

6 megacranes for use at ports located in the United 

7 States. 

8 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant 

9 under this subsection, an eligible applicant shall sub10 mit to the Administrator an application at such 

11 time, in such manner, and containing such informa12 tion as the Administrator considers appropriate, in13 cluding any information related to the purchase of 

14 a megacrane. 

15 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible applicant re16 ceiving a grant under this subsection shall use the 

17 funds provided under the grant only to— 

18 ‘‘(A) procure a megacrane, including to 

19 pay for any manufacturing costs associated 

20 with procuring a megacrane; or 

21 ‘‘(B) replace foreign software on a 

22 megacrane in use before the date of enactment 

23 of the Port Cranes for America Act. 

24 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL MATCH.—The Federal share of 

25 the cost of procurement of a megacrane or the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6488.IH H6488

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1 placement of foreign software on a megacrane in 

2 service before the date of enactment of the Port 

3 Cranes for America Act for which a grant is award4 ed under this subsection shall be not more than 80 

5 percent. 

6 ‘‘(5) RESTRICTION.—An eligible applicant re7 ceiving a grant under this subsection may not pro8 cure a foreign crane. 

9 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘el11 igible applicant’ has the meaning given such 

12 term in section 50302. 

13 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN CRANE.—The term ‘foreign 

14 crane’ means a crane that is, in whole or in 

15 part, manufactured by an entity that is owned 

16 or controlled by, is a subsidiary of, or is other17 wise related legally or financially to a corpora18 tion based in a country that— 

19 ‘‘(i) is identified as a nonmarket econ20 omy country (as defined in section 771(18) 

21 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

22 1677(18))) as of the date of enactment of 

23 the Port Cranes for America Act; 

24 ‘‘(ii) was identified by the United 

25 States Trade Representative in the most 


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1 recent report required by section 182 of 

2 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) 

3 as a foreign country included on the pri4 ority watch list defined in subsection (g)(3) 

5 of such section; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) is subject to monitoring by the 

7 Trade Representative under section 306 of 

8 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416). 

9 ‘‘(C) MEGACRANE.—The term ‘megacrane’ 

10 means a container crane that has a lifting ca11 pacity in excess of 50 tons and that is not a 

12 foreign crane. 

13 ‘‘(D) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 

14 States’ includes any territory of the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(g) BUY AMERICA.—The requirements of section 

17 54101(d)(2) shall apply to any grant provided under this 

18 section.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. FOREIGN CRANE ACQUISITION PROHIBITION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 701 of 

21 title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 70126. Foreign crane acquisition prohibition 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro3 vision of law, a foreign crane may not be acquired for op4 eration in the United States. 

5 ‘‘(b) FOREIGN CRANE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

6 term ‘foreign crane’ has the meaning given such term in 

7 section 50302(f) of title 46, United States Code.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap9 ter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 

10 inserting after the item relating to section 70125 the fol11 lowing: 

‘‘70126. Foreign crane acquisition prohibition.’’. 

12 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section, including the 

13 amendments made by this section, applies beginning on 

14 the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

Æ 


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