A requirement for U.S. flag ocean transport is impairing President Obama's National Export Initiative, according to an export advocacy group.
John Hardy Jr., president of the Coalition for Employment Through Exports, says that removing the U.S. flag requirement for projects financed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States is one of the changes that the group would like to see when the Ex-Im Bank's charter comes up for renewal in September 2011.
Sometimes a qualified U.S. ship is not available when an exporter wants to ship the cargo, Hardy says.
The Maritime Administration can waive the requirement, but how quickly it's done depends on the administrator, Hardy says.
