| | | | |  | | By Alex Daugherty | | | With help from Tanya Snyder and Oriana Pawlyk
| | | — Unions call for expanding the Jones Act fleet to counter supply chain issues and an ocean shipping industry that is dominated by foreign players. — Fuel economy standards for cars will approach 50 miles per gallon by 2026 after a new DOT rule was announced. — House Transportation Committee Republicans to hold a GOP-only hearing bashing President Joe Biden and Democrats over energy issues. IT'S MONDAY: You're reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. Send tips, pitches, feedback and song lyrics to us at adaugherty@politico.com, tsnyder@politico.com and opawlyk@politico.com. You can also find us on Twitter: @alextdaugherty, @TSnyderDC and @Oriana0214. "Hey now, mama, you look so fine/Ridin' around in that Mercury '49/'Cause I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury/Yes I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury/I'm gonna buy a Mercury and cruise up and down the road"
| | A message from Autos Drive America: For more than 60 years, international automakers have invested in the United States, expanding operations and becoming crucial to the American auto industry. These companies now make up nearly 50% of U.S. auto production and support 2.1 million U.S. jobs. International automakers are vital to building U.S. manufacturing, strengthening the American economy, and addressing climate change.
Learn more about how international automakers drive American jobs, communities, opportunities, sustainability, and ingenuity. | | | | | | KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES ACT: The AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department is urging the Biden administration to expand the U.S.-flagged domestic fleet and vessels covered by Jones Act protections with an eye toward alleviating ongoing supply chain issues. "TTD urges Congress and the Administration to take the necessary steps to facilitate the construction and operation of Jones Act vessels as part of a new, expanded marine highway system along America's coasts," the group of labor unions said in a policy statement shared with POLITICO. EXPAND U.S. OCEAN CARRIERS : The union coalition is also urging an expansion of U.S.-flagged vessels in the foreign shipping trades, in which the major container-ship players are all based abroad. Congress appears poised to impose new rules on container shipping for the first time in decades in response to record-high prices for shipping containers and to complaints from U.S. exporters that their cargo cannot get shipped in a timely fashion. "Increasing the amount of America's foreign trade carried aboard U.S.-flag ships will increase the number of American maritime jobs and strengthen America's military and economic security," the group wrote. It added that it rejects flag-of-convenience "open registries," where a national ship registry is open to ships of all countries, in an attempt to skirt U.S. labor laws and Jones Act protections. There are some calls (notably from former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers) to suspend the Jones Act amid supply chain issues, but there's little support for the idea in either party in Congress.
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| | | GAS SIPPING: The Transportation Department on Friday finalized a rule boosting fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks that aims to achieve an average of 49 miles per gallon for 2026 model-year vehicles, Alex Guillén reports. The new rule, which comes as the Biden administration seeks to ease the pain that U.S. drivers are experiencing from record-high prices at the pump, will require 8 percent improvements in model years 2024 and 2025, with a 10 percent improvement in 2026. That will culminate in "roughly" 49 miles per gallon in 2026, or 9.7 mpg over the baseline, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FREEZING RUSSIA: Although the rule was in the works long before Russia's invasion of Ukraine upended global oil markets and caused gasoline prices to spike, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also touted the rule's goal of lessening Americans' dependence on oil by reducing demand for gasoline by 234 billion gallons through 2050. "Even if all of the oil we use in the U.S.A. were made in the U.S.A., the price of it is still subject to powers and dynamics outside of the U.S.A, which means that until we achieve a form of energy independence that is based on clean energy created here at home, American citizens will still be vulnerable to wild price hikes like we're seeing right now during Putin's war," he said during a Friday press conference.
| | | NTSB in the hot seat: House Transportation Committee Chair Peter DeFazio(D-Ore.) announced that the full committee will meet Wednesday to hear from the National Transportation Safety Board on its reauthorization proposal and "related transportation issues." HEADING TO CHINA: The NTSB announced Friday that federal investigators are assisting China's aviation administration to download the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern flight 5735, sending an important piece of evidence to Washington for assistance in determining what happened during the March 21 crash, which killed all 132 people on board (Reuters had it first ). The NTSB is also sending a team to China and has the right to participate in the investigation because the Boeing 737-800 jet that crashed was designed and built in the U.S. GOP ONLY: The House Transportation Committee's Republican members will participate Tuesday in an intraparty roundtable on what they're calling the "energy crisis," saying Democrats "have ignored the reality of America's energy needs." Participants will include representatives from the oil and gas industry, along with ports. "Once the harsh reality and impacts of [the Democrats'] decisions hit, they started blaming everyone else for the results," the panel's ranking member, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), said in a statement. "Now that the costs to fill up our gas tanks and heat our homes are soaring, Americans aren't looking for finger pointing — they're looking for real solutions, and Republicans are committed to helping find them."
| | | |   | | | | | | Nicole Nason is joining Boeing as vice president of federal affairs for commercial aviation, sustainability and corporate policy. She most recently served as chief safety officer and head of external affairs at Cavnue, an infrastructure company supporting autonomous vehicles, and is a Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration alum. (h/t Daniel Lippman)
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — "South Korea reopens to fully vaccinated foreigners, quarantine-free." The Washington Post. — "Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposes gift cards to help residents pay for gas." NPR. — "Delta plane makes emergency landing after windshield shatters mid-flight." The New York Times. — "Boeing slows way down on Chinese 737 Max production." The Air Current. — "Amtrak's new Acela trains delayed until fall 2023." The Points Guy. — "Most of Dutch rail network halted by technical problem." Reuters. — "Spring break travel mess: Airlines cancel, delay 12,000 weekend flights." USA Today.
| | A message from Autos Drive America: BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo operate right here in the U.S. These household brands are a vital part of the U.S. automotive industry and have been for decades.
International automakers support 2.1 million jobs and invest in the communities where they live and work through sponsorships, philanthropic opportunities, and more. By manufacturing more than 4 million vehicles in the U.S. and exporting over 650,000 annually to more than 135 countries, international automakers create high-quality, good-paying opportunities for American workers. They are committed to the future of the industry, offering 215 workforce development programs and staying on the cutting-edge of new, green technologies.
International automakers are American automakers, and they are crucial to our nation's economy. Learn more about how these companies are driving American jobs, communities, opportunities, sustainability, and ingenuity. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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