A Law That Deserves To Hit An Iceberg

A Law That Deserves To Hit An Iceberg

Share to Linkedin One huge trouble with the law: Today U. S.-made big ships cost four times more than those made by foreign competitors. The result of the Jones Act is significantly higher costs for consumers and businesses. The law has distorted shipping patterns across North America. It particularly hurts Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Guam, which are more dependent on waterborne products than is the continental U. S. The most pronounced perversions of the law are found regarding energy. For example, it would be logical for Puerto Rico to get its liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Georgia or Louisiana, but since there are no LNG tankers that meet Jones Act requirements, the island must import the gas from Russia and other foreign sources. The same distortion phenomenon also holds true for the U. S. mainland. It's cheaper for New England to get natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago or even Siberia than it is from the Gulf Coast. We have the absurdity of refineries on the East and West Coasts finding it less expensive to import oil from abroad instead of transporting it from other parts of the U. S. California can get gas more easily from Singapore than