Editors at National Review Online challenge an ineffective federal law.
When a law is routinely waived, it’s a pretty good sign that it doesn’t make sense in the first place.
Consider the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, more commonly known as the Jones Act. In the name of “national security,” it requires that no goods be transported between two U.S. seaports unless the ship carrying them was built by a U.S. company, flies the U.S. flag, is owned by U.S. citizens, and is crewed exclusively by Americans. The law’s chief proponent — the domestic maritime industry, if you can imagine — claims that the Jones Act ensures an ample pool of all-American ships, ready to respond to any national emergency.
How is that working out? The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it was waiving the Jones Act’s requirements for 60 days to ease supply-chain disruptions. …
… This is a routine practice. It was waived in 2021 after a cyberattack shut down the Colonial Pipeline, blocking the flow of oil to the Eastern Seaboard. It was waived in 2017 when Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the southern United States, and again when Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. …
… If the Jones Act is so essential for the United States to respond to wars and national emergencies, one would assume it wouldn’t be waived when there are wars or national emergencies.
The obvious problem is that the Jones Act, by design, restricts the transport of critical goods across the country. When Puerto Rico needs fuel after its electric grid has been smashed, or when regular shipping patterns are disrupted by conflict, the law prevents the vast majority of the world’s vessels from moving needed supplies from one part of America to another.
But the Jones Act was supposed to secure a reliable supply of U.S.-built and manned ships to help in a crisis. Where are all those vessels?
It turns out there aren’t that many of them.
