U.S. port leaders are hoping a reintroduced bill can give them some space from fees charged by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The bill, which is called the CBP Securing Ports and America’s Commerce and Economy Act (SPACE Act), aims to ensure the regulatory agency takes on at least some of the financial burden associated with security checks and operations at ports across the country.
Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) led the reintroduction of the bill, alongside Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA). Lee said the bill, which was first proposed in 2023 by members Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Julia Brownley (D-CA) and Troy Carter (D-LA), is a common sense measure to help reinvigorate ports.
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“Our nation’s seaports are not only critical to our economy, but they are key points of entry that must be secured,” Lee said in a statement. “This bill is a straightforward, bipartisan solution that alleviates the burden placed on private seaports by CBP’s recent equipment demands. This bill will ensure the obligations placed on seaports are fair, transparent, and help support safe, lawful trade and travel.”
Buchanan, Brownley and Carter co-sponsored the bill with Lee and Gluesenkamp Perez.
The bipartisan backers said the bill would help solve several problems, enabling a more collaborative approach between CBP and port operators. Today, CBP is barred from entering a long-term lease at ports; instead, they typically operate out of what Lee’s office called “temporary or makeshift facilities.” That’s because, while CBP is a governmental agency, ports are often required to shoulder the costs of setting up a location for officers to operate out of and purchasing the equipment required for that business to occur.
The bill would allow CBP to enter the appropriate leases—and would help allocate funding from existing sources inside the government agency to pay for the necessary infrastructure. Cary Davis, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), lauded the CBP SPACE Act and noted that, if passed, it would help ports save money that could be reinvested into their own workforces and operations.
“CBP officers’ work is crucial to the safety, health, and vitality of America’s ports and we sincerely thank them,” Davis said in a statement. “However, the costs of government inspection operations are historically and constitutionally, a federal government responsibility. Moreover, port commerce generates hundreds of millions of dollars in public tax revenue—taxpayers benefit when those funds are reinvested in the activities that generate future revenues in a virtuous cycle.”
The AAPA also noted that more than two dozen other trade organizations in the logistics, transportation and agriculture spaces stood with them in supporting the reintroduction of the bill. That coalition of organizations had urged legislators in a letter to reintroduce and move the bill forward, stating that CBP’s approach to charging ports has become a “growing financial burden” and alleging that the port-covered expenses “frequently cover items well outside the scope of CBP’s mission” without public accountability for such purchases.
The trade organizations said they believe the bill would “limit CBP’s authority to demand payment for non-mission expenses.”
“America’s ports need to focus on invest in new terminals, equipment, cybersecurity, and multimodal connections. They cannot afford to divert their attention and limited funds to federal agency wish lists, nor should the American people tolerate threats to the continued flow of commerce,” the organizations, including the AAPA, wrote in the letter. “Ultimately, this is about protecting our supply chains, defending American consumers from unjustified costs, and restoring the principles of fairness and oversight in federal-local partnerships.”
The reintroduction also comes at a moment in which President Donald Trump has shown a particular affinity for U.S.-made ships and exports. After proposing a steep, per-port levy on specific, China-associated liners inbound into U.S. ports, Trump’s administration changed course in April, with the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office decreeing that, beginning in October, the U.S. will charge specified fees for some Chinese-owned or Chinese-operated ships. The fees will increase annually through 2028 Jamieson Greer, the USTR, said the Trump administration elected to take this approach in an effort to “begin to reverse Chinese dominance” in the shipping industry.
What’s more, the president signed an executive order in April, mandating the creation of a U.S. shipbuilding office, aimed at raising the number of U.S.-built ships on the water globally.
That activity comes alongside a blur of trade and tariff-related activity from Trump’s desk, which could see CBP ramping up operations, especially related to the collapse of the de minimis provision. While Trump initially signed a “Liberation Day” executive order ending de minimis on goods inbound from China, Congress also included a section in the now-passed Big, Beautiful Bill that will see what many have called a “trade loophole” ushered out for all importers by the middle of 2027.
Because de minimis allowed over 1.3 billion packages into the U.S. duty free in 2024, CBP will need to come up with new mechanisms to further scrutinize parcels that will no longer be exempt from duties. The switch will see the agency handling and screening an increased number of shipments, which could also impact its operations and need for equipment at ports across the country.
If the CBP SPACE Act passes and is signed into law ahead of those changes, ports would be less likely to be financially responsible for such upgrades. Joseph Morris, CEO and port director of Florida’s Port Everglades, said ensuring the agency has a way to procure the necessary equipment will be critical as the economy and trade continue to fluctuate.
“Ensuring that CBP is properly funded to execute its critical mission at seaports is of vital importance to U.S. trade,” Morris said in a statement.
