‘‘(c) SUBMISSION TO PRESIDENT.—If the head of a department, agency, 
or instrumentality of the Government refuses to comply with a request 
under subsection (a) or objects to a decision of the Commission under sub-
section (b), the Commission or the head of the department, agency, or in-
strumentality may submit the facts to the President. The President may es-
tablish, suspend, modify, or annul the regulation. 
‘‘§ 42103. No preference to Government-owned vessels 
‘‘A regulation may not give a vessel owned by the United States Govern-
ment a preference over a vessel owned by citizens of the United States and 
documented under the laws of the United States. 
‘‘§ 42104. Information, witnesses, and evidence 
‘‘(a) ORDER TO SUPPLY INFORMATION.—In carrying out section 42101 
of this title, the Federal Maritime Commission may order any person (in-
cluding a common carrier, tramp operator, bulk operator, shipper, shippers’ 
association, ocean transportation intermediary, or marine terminal operator, 
or an officer, receiver, trustee, lessee, agent, or employee thereof) to file 
with the Commission a report, answers to questions, documentary material, 
or other information the Commission considers necessary or appropriate. 
The Commission may require the response to any such order to be made 
under oath. The response shall be provided in the form and within the time 
specified by the Commission. 
‘‘(b) SUBPOENAS AND DISCOVERY.—In carrying out section 42101 of this 
title, the Commission may— 
‘‘(1) subpoena witnesses and evidence; and 
‘‘(2) authorize a party to use depositions, written interrogatories, 
and discovery procedures that, to the extent practicable, conform to the 
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 App. U.S.C.). 
‘‘(c) WITNESS FEES.—Unless otherwise prohibited by law, and subject to 
funds being appropriated, a witness in a proceeding under section 42101 
of this title is entitled to the same fees and mileage as in the courts of the 
United States. 
‘‘(d) PENALTIES.—For failure to supply information ordered to be pro-
duced or compelled by subpoena under this section, the Commission may— 
‘‘(1) after notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend tariffs and 
service contracts of a common carrier or the common carrier’s right to 
use tariffs of conferences and service contracts of agreements of which 
it is a member; or 
‘‘(2) assess a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each day that 
the information is not provided. 
‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person does not comply with an order or sub-
poena of the Commission under this section, the Commission may seek en-
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forcement in a district court of the United States having jurisdiction over 
the parties. If, after hearing, the court determines that the order or sub-
poena was regularly made and duly issued, the court shall enforce the order 
or subpoena. 
‘‘§ 42105. Disclosure to public 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Maritime Com-
mission may refuse to disclose to the public a response or other information 
submitted to it under this chapter. 
‘‘§ 42106. Other actions to remedy unfavorable conditions 
‘‘If the Federal Maritime Commission finds that conditions unfavorable 
to shipping in foreign trade as described in section 42101 of this title exist, 
the Commission may— 
‘‘(1) limit voyages to and from United States ports or the amount 
or type of cargo carried; 
‘‘(2) suspend, in whole or in part, tariffs and service contracts for 
carriage to or from United States ports, including a common carrier’s 
right to use tariffs of conferences and service contracts of agreements 
in United States trades of which it is a member for any period the 
Commission specifies; 
‘‘(3) suspend, in whole or in part, an ocean common carrier’s right 
to operate under any agreement filed with the Commission, including 
any agreement authorizing preferential treatment at terminals, pref-
erential terminal leases, space chartering, or pooling of cargo or rev-
enue with other ocean common carriers; 
‘‘(4) impose a fee not to exceed $1,000,000 per voyage; or 
‘‘(5) take any other action the Commission finds necessary and ap-
propriate to adjust or meet any condition unfavorable to shipping in 
the foreign trade of the United States. 
‘‘§ 42107. Refusal of clearance and entry 
‘‘At the request of the Federal Maritime Commission— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 
‘‘(A) refuse the clearance required by section 60105 of this title 
to a vessel of a country that is named in a regulation prescribed 
by the Commission under section 42101 of this title; and 
‘‘(B) collect any fees imposed by the Commission under section 
42106(4) of this title; and 
‘‘(2) the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 
operating shall— 
‘‘(A) deny entry, for purposes of oceanborne trade, of a vessel 
of a country that is named in a regulation prescribed by the Com-
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mission under section 42101 of this title, to a port or place in the 
United States or the navigable waters of the United States; or 
‘‘(B) detain the vessel at the port or place in the United States 
from which it is about to depart for another port or place in the 
United States. 
‘‘§ 42108. Penalty for operating under suspended tariff or 
service contract 
‘‘A common carrier that accepts or handles cargo for carriage under a 
tariff or service contract that has been suspended under section 42104(d)(1) 
or 42106(2) of this title, or after its right to use another tariff or service 
contract has been suspended under those provisions, is liable to the United 
States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each 
day that it is found to be operating under a suspended tariff or service con-
tract. 
‘‘§ 42109. Consultation with other agencies 
‘‘The Federal Maritime Commission may consult with, seek the coopera-
tion of, or make recommendations to other appropriate agencies of the 
United States Government prior to taking any action under this chapter. 
‘‘CHAPTER 423—FOREIGN SHIPPING PRACTICES 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘42301.
Definitions. 
‘‘42302.
Investigations. 
‘‘42303.
Information requests. 
‘‘42304.
Action against foreign carriers. 
‘‘42305.
Refusal of clearance and entry. 
‘‘42306.
Submission of determinations to President. 
‘‘42307.
Review of regulations and orders. 
‘‘§ 42301. Definitions 
‘‘(a) DEFINED IN PART A.—In this chapter, the terms ‘common carrier’, 
‘marine terminal operator’, ‘ocean common carrier’, ‘ocean transportation 
intermediary’, ‘shipper’, and ‘shippers’ association’ have the meaning given 
those terms in section 40102 of this title. 
‘‘(b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) FOREIGN CARRIER.—The term ‘foreign carrier’ means an ocean 
common carrier a majority of whose vessels are documented under the 
laws of a foreign country. 
‘‘(2) MARITIME
SERVICES.—The term ‘maritime services’ means 
port-to-port transportation of cargo by vessels operated by an ocean 
common carrier. 
‘‘(3) MARITIME-RELATED
SERVICES.—The term ‘maritime-related 
services’ means intermodal operations, terminal operations, cargo solici-
tation, agency services, ocean transportation intermediary services and 
operations, and all other activities and services integral to total trans-
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portation systems of ocean common carriers and their foreign domiciled 
affiliates for themselves and others. 
‘‘(4) UNITED STATES CARRIER.—The term ‘United States carrier’ 
means an ocean common carrier operating vessels documented under 
the laws of the United States. 
‘‘(5) UNITED
STATES
OCEANBORNE
TRADE.—The term ‘United 
States oceanborne trade’ means the carriage of cargo between the 
United States and a foreign country, whether directly or indirectly, by 
an ocean common carrier. 
‘‘§ 42302. Investigations 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Maritime Commission shall investigate 
whether any laws, rules, regulations, policies, or practices of a foreign gov-
ernment, or any practices of a foreign carrier or other person providing 
maritime or maritime-related services in a foreign country, result in the ex-
istence of conditions that— 
‘‘(1) adversely affect the operations of United States carriers in 
United States oceanborne trade; and 
‘‘(2) do not exist for foreign carriers of that country in the United 
States under the laws of the United States or as a result of acts of 
United States carriers or other persons providing maritime or mari-
time-related services in the United States. 
‘‘(b) INITIATION OF INVESTIGATION.—An investigation under subsection 
(a) may be initiated by the Commission on its own motion or on the petition 
of any person, including another component of the United States Govern-
ment. 
‘‘(c) TIME FOR DECISION.—The Commission shall complete an investiga-
tion under this section and render a decision within 120 days after it is ini-
tiated. However, the Commission may extend this 120-day period for an ad-
ditional 90 days if the Commission is unable to obtain sufficient information 
to determine whether a condition specified in subsection (a) exists. A notice 
providing an extension shall state clearly the reasons for the extension. 
‘‘§ 42303. Information requests 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To further the purposes of section 42302(a) of this 
title, the Federal Maritime Commission may order any person (including a 
common carrier, shipper, shippers’ association, ocean transportation inter-
mediary, or marine terminal operator, or an officer, receiver, trustee, lessee, 
agent or employee thereof) to file with the Commission any periodic or spe-
cial report, answers to questions, documentary material, or other informa-
tion the Commission considers necessary or appropriate. The Commission 
may require the response to any such order to be made under oath. The 
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