Today, President Donald Trump waived a century-old shipping law to allow foreign vessels to ship goods between American ports, as the administration races to contain rising fuel prices caused by the war in Iran.
In a new statement, Cato scholar and Jones Act expert, Colin Grabow says “The Trump administration’s decision to waive the Jones Act for the transportation of fertilizer and certain energy products is an implicit admission that the law is a glaring failure. By suspending it to bolster domestic supply chains amid war and mounting economic pressure, the White House is effectively confessing its bankruptcy.
A 60-day waiver will produce real, if modest, benefits. Allowing internationally-flagged vessels to carry goods between U.S. ports dramatically expands the number of ships available to move essential supplies. The Jones Act fleet is simply incapable of meeting these needs. There are zero oceangoing dry bulk vessels suitable for transporting fertilizer that comply with the law, zero U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged LNG tankers to meet New England’s natural gas needs, and less than one percent of the world’s tanker fleet qualifies. These realities expose just how much the Jones Act holds the country back.
But this episode also raises serious legal issues. Jones Act waivers are supposed to be granted only under narrow conditions, and it is far from clear that those conditions are met here. That should concern anyone who cares about the rule of law.
The real problem, however, is not the waiver. It’s the law itself. A statute that must be bent, stretched, or ignored whenever it becomes inconvenient is not serving the national interest but rather undermining it.
Congress should stop pretending otherwise. The Jones Act has failed as economic policy, as supply chain policy, and as national security policy. It is time to repeal it, or at the very least pursue sweeping reforms that bring U.S. maritime policy into the 21st century.”
Jones Act Related Work Below:
- The Case Against the Jones Act
- Jones Act Hurts More than It Helps
- Repeal, Baby, Repeal: How the Jones Act Strangles U.S. Energy
- Washington’s Misplaced Shipbuilding Obsession
- When US Gasoline Has to Leave the Country to Move Within It
To speak with Grabow, please reach out to Cato PR at pr@cato.org
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