Commentary
America’s shipping industry isn’t a whipping boy—it’s one of our strengths. Sadly, the Jones Act, which promotes U.S. shippers, is treated like it is. Irrational political voices have argued that repealing the law would do many things, but policymakers should be cautious about taking such a drastic step.
Some have asserted, for example, that repealing the Jones Act would end traffic congestion in U.S. cities. Even average Americans who don’t study traffic patterns or city planning know that repealing a law that simply requires shipping between two or more U.S. ports to be done by American ships with American crews isn’t the cause of traffic jams….