摘要: |
Section 9 of the Shipping Act of 1984 ('1984 Act'), 46 U.S.C. app. 1708, empowers the Commission to determine whether the rates offered by a controlled carrier are unjust or unreasonable. Section 9(a) makes this a violation of the 1984 Act ('(n)o controlled carrier ... may maintain rates or charges ... that are below a level that is just and reasonable'). Section 9(d) permits the Commission to issue an order to the controlled carrier to show cause why those rates, etc., should not be disapproved. If necessary, section 9(a) then authorizes the Commission, after notice and hearing, to disapprove any rates the controlled carrier has failed to demonstrate are just and reasonable. The controlled carrier provisions of the 1984 Act prohibit state-controlled carriers operating as 'cross-traders' in the U.S. trades from maintaining rates or charges below a level that is just and reasonable, generally measured against the rates charged by similar carriers. The major exception is for cargo moving in the bilateral trade between the country whose government owns the controlled carrier and the United States. |