HR 252: Secure Our Ports Act of 2025

HR 252 in plain English: This bill would ban owners or operators of certain U.S. maritime transportation facilities from entering into contracts for the lease, ownership, or operation of those facilities with companies partly or wholly owned by China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia. The restrictions apply to ports in areas subject to enhanced federal transportation security requirements.

Stated purpose

To prohibit owners or operators of certain U.S. port facilities from entering into contracts for ownership, leasing, or operation with enterprises owned in any part by China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran.

Key points

• Prohibits contracts with Chinese, Iranian, North Korean, or Russian-owned companies at covered U.S. port facilities.
• Applies to maritime facilities located in areas required to have an Area Maritime Transportation Security Plan.
• Covers leasing, ownership, and operational agreements at these facilities.

Arguments supporters make

• Keeping adversarial foreign governments out of U.S. port operations reduces the risk that they could gather intelligence, disrupt supply chains, or interfere with national security during a crisis.
• Ports in security-sensitive areas already require special safety plans, so adding a contracting restriction is a logical next step to protect critical infrastructure.
• A clear, bright-line rule is easier to enforce and leaves no loophole for partial ownership arrangements that could still give hostile states access to sensitive facilities.

Arguments opponents make

• Banning any company with even a tiny ownership stake from one of these countries could be overly broad, cutting off legitimate business relationships and raising costs at U.S. ports without a proportionate security gain.
• Port operators may have fewer contractors to choose from, which could reduce competition, drive up prices, and slow operations at facilities that handle a large share of U.S. trade.
• Critics may argue that existing national security review processes, such as those conducted by federal agencies, are already equipped to screen out genuinely dangerous contracts without a blanket legislative prohibition.

Tradeoffs

The bill trades potential economic flexibility and business competition at ports for a uniform security rule that removes case-by-case judgment; tighter restrictions may improve security but could also raise costs or limit options for port operators.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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