H.R. 4700 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4700 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 18, 2023 Mr. Case (for himself, Mr. Sablan, and Mr. Moylan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require fair shipping prices for non-contiguous areas of the United States, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair Shipping for Non-Contiguous Areas Act of 2023. 2. Prohibition on higher shipping fees No private shipping service may exceed the shipping charge for the same product to and from a location in the contiguous United States as charged to a consumer product or producer good to the non-contiguous area of the United States. 3. Prohibition on excluding non-contiguous areas No private shipping service may exclude— (1) a non-contiguous area of the United States from its shipping polices; or (2) a non-contiguous area of the United States from shipping to its location. 4. Exemptions (a) USPS exempted The United States Postal Service shall be exempt from the requirements of this Act. (b) Other exemptions Any consumer product or producer good valued at more than $10,000 shall be exempt from the requirements of this Act. 5. Definitions In this Act: (1) Non-contiguous area The term non-contiguous area means any part of the United States not physically connected to the contiguous United States, including Alaska and Hawaii and any territory or possession of the United States. (2) Contiguous United States The term contiguous United States shall refer to the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia. (3) Private shipping services The term private shipping services means shipping services carried out by private companies whose primary business model is the transporting of products for retailers. (4) Consumer products The term consumer products means the finished commodities for end-user use that will go directly to the consumer. (5) Producer goods The term producer goods means raw materials used to produce other products.