Here’s what we know.
The Jones Act’s official name is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. Congress passed the law — sponsored by Sen. Wesley Jones of Washington state — in an effort to rebuild U.S. shipping after German U-boats decimated America’s merchant flee during World War I.
Among other things, the Jones Act mandates that ships carrying cargo and passengers between U.S. ports must be built in the United States and owned by Americans — effectively prohibiting foreign-flagged ships from this domestic trade. The vessels are also required to carry U.S. crews.
The law can be waived in the “interest of national defense,” the U.S. Maritime Administration notes, either through the Homeland Security or Defense Department.
The Jones Act also was intended to ensure that the U.S. had its own merchant fleet in case of war. It’s been strongly supported by some U.S. shipping companies, national security advocates and organized labor. But cutting out foreign competition has also driven up the cost of carrying cargo domestically.
U.S.-flagged ships are generally more expensive to both operate and build than foreign ones. And those costs are especially damaging to states and territories that are supplied by sea, such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the Jones Act waiver would help “mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market” during the Iran war and would “allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports.”
Meanwhile, the American Maritime Partnership — a coalition that represents vessel owners and operators, unions, equipment yards and vendors — said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” about the 60-day waiver “being abused and unnecessarily displacing American workers and American companies.”
The group, which has been a longtime supporter of the Jones Act, also reiterated that the action would do little to reduce gas prices for consumers.
A number of factors contribute to prices at the pump. And many note that opening up domestic shipping routes isn’t a sweeping fix.
The Center for American Progress estimated last week that waiving the Jones Act would decrease East Coast gas prices by a modest 3 cents, but potentially raising costs on the Gulf Coast. And the move “would also sideline American shipbuilders and workers and allow the oil industry to continue to profit from high prices while reducing transport costs,” the research and policy think tank said Friday.
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AP Writers Seung Min Kim, Paul Wiseman and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.
