More than a century of shielding domestic shipbuilding and shipping has left the industry less competitive than ever. President Donald Trump’s latest effort to revitalize it risks making matters worse by driving up trade costs and entrenching the very structural weaknesses it purports to fix.
WASHINGTON, DC – No US industry has been harmed more by protectionism than shipbuilding and shipping. In 1920, Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act – commonly known as the Jones Act – required that all shipping between American ports be conducted on vessels built in the United States, owned by Americans, and crewed by American seamen, thereby granting domestic producers monopoly power. The result was not renewal but decline: aside from a temporary surge during World War II, both US shipbuilding and the global presence of American-flagged vessels have steadily eroded.
WASHINGTON, DC – No US industry has been harmed more by protectionism than shipbuilding and shipping. In 1920, Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act – commonly known as the Jones Act – required that all shipping between American ports be conducted on vessels built in the United States, owned by Americans, and crewed by American seamen, thereby granting domestic producers monopoly power. The result was not renewal but decline: aside from a temporary surge during World War II, both US shipbuilding and the global presence of American-flagged vessels have steadily eroded.