A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced legislation that would extend the federal foreign earned income exclusion to U.S. merchant mariners working aboard U.S.-flag vessels in foreign trade. The American Mariner Tax Fairness Act was introduced by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) alongside Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.).

Under the bill, mariners who spend at least 90 days during a 12-month period aboard qualifying vessels would be eligible for the exclusion, with the benefit applying only to income earned during qualifying periods at sea. Supporters frame the measure as a direct response to recruitment and retention pressures facing the U.S.-flag fleet, which has fallen from roughly 1,100 oceangoing vessels in 1950 to fewer than 200 today.

The proposal has drawn backing from the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association and the American Maritime Congress. MEBA President Adam Vokac called mariner recruitment and retention “one of the most pressing national security vulnerabilities facing the maritime industry today,” noting the change would align U.S. treatment of seafarers with that of other major maritime nations.

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