With the development of the U.S. shipping industry and the construction of China-U.S. shipping routes， the demand for labor grew increasingly pressing. As Chinese Seamen became the focal point of the contest among the two major U.S. political parties， seamen’s unions， and shipping capital， Chinese Exclusion Policy permeated into the shipping industry on this pretext. The U.S.

Seamen’s Act

—also know

n as the

Wilson-La Follette Act

—was enacted in 1915， which restricted the employment of Chinese Seamen by introducing provisions such as language tests and quotas for able seamen. It also expanded the jurisdiction over U.S. ports， mandating that foreign vessels calling at American ports comply with the Act’s stipulations. The U.S. sought to balance labor costs in the international shipping industry and ease employment competition by imposing its own standards. The formulation and implementation of the

Seamen’s Act

reflect the interest conflicts between the two U.S. political parties， seamen’s unions and shipping capital， capturing a profound clash between America’s domestic protectionist labor policies and the international development trend of the shipping industry.