Cato Institute this week released a new post arguing that voyage-level data from the Trump administration’s Jones Act waiver demonstrates that the 1920 law has been suppressing intra-US trade by preventing domestic cargo movements that the market clearly wanted to make.
The post states that because the waiver covers only energy products and fertilizer, it offers only a partial view of the economic activity the Jones Act blocks; full repeal would unlock substantially more domestic maritime commerce.
Quote:
If the Jones Act were anything other than a drag on the US economy, the waiver would have gone unused. Instead, in just over 50 days, it has generated 45 voyages spanning more than 30 ports, involving 35 vessels not present in the Jones Act fleet, and carrying over a dozen different cargo types. Unmet demand has been illuminated, and dormant supply chains brought to life. The voyages represent American products reaching American customers that the law had previously made impossible or economically unviable.
Read the full post: Jones Act waiver data reveals universe of blocked American trade