President gets sweeping power to ban ships from seized foreign ports
S. 2368 — Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2025 · Filed by Bill Hagerty (R-TN) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 21, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill targets foreign governments in the Western Hemisphere that have free trade agreements with the U.S. and have seized or expropriated American-owned port infrastructure since January 2024. It directs the President to ban vessels that have used those seized ports from entering U.S. ports, importing goods, or servicing in U.S. waters. It also expands trade retaliation tools under Section 301 of the Trade Act to treat expropriation of American assets as an unfair trade practice.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to weaponize trade law (Section 301) against foreign expropriation and to impose port-access sanctions on vessels using seized infrastructure. It is fundamentally a trade enforcement and retaliatory mechanism, not a property-rights protection in the traditional sense—the enforcement is punitive and market-facing.
What the text implies
- The bill grants the President unilateral authority to designate 'prohibited property' with only 60-day notice and minimal congressional oversight, creating potential for executive overreach in trade disputes.
- Port bans on vessels could disrupt global shipping networks and raise costs for U.S. consumers if major shipping routes are affected, particularly if the targeted country is a significant trade partner.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
U.S. real estate and port infrastructure investors; U.S. companies with expropriated assets abroad; Shipping and logistics companies operating alternative routes