WASHINGTON – New bipartisan legislation introduced this week relating to Chinese influence at U.S. ports has drawn pushback from port authorities.
The Port Crane Security and Inspection Act of 2023, introduced by Congressmen Carlos A. Giménez, R-Fla., and John Garamendi, D-Calif., would require federal inspections of cranes and the software they operate on if they were manufactured in countries considered adversaries of the U.S.
Giménez points out that around 80% of cranes used at American ports come from China.
“This reliance on foreign cranes allows the Chinese Communist Party to illicitly capture information about materials being shipped in and out of the country and could lead to severe disruptions in critical infrastructure centers,” he said. “The Port Crane Security & Inspection Act of 2023 guarantees that America’s ports are protected from cybersecurity attacks and potential security breaches by malign actors.”
American Assn. of Port Authorities (AAPA) CEO Chris Connor pushed back, calling security concerns “sensationalized.”
“The cranes our ports procure, which is based on cost, use separate software purchased from allied countries like Japan and Sweden, and they undergo rigorous security inspections with federal government partners to safeguard against cyber threats,” he said.
Connor also said lawmakers should focus on getting crane software produced domestically.
The bill is closely related to similar legislation Giménez introduced in 2022. The difference lies in a provision stating that the Dept. of Homeland Security takes cranes “that pose a security risk or threat offline until such crane can be certified as no longer being a risk or threat.”
The AAPA also pushed back on this legislation in March, once again bringing up domestic manufacturing. “Without reshoring our domestic manufacturing capacity, legislative proposals to hastily remove cranes from U.S. ports without immediate replacements would harm U.S. supply chains, jack up prices for everyone, and exacerbate inflation even further,” it wrote.
“There have been no known security breaches as the result of any cranes at U.S. ports, despite alarmist media reports. Further, modern cranes are very fast and sophisticated but even they can’t track the origin, destination, or nature of the cargo.”
