Make shipping affordable again is the idea behind new legislation introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
The Open America’s Waters Act, introduced Thursday, would repeal the Jones Act, aimed at deregulating the U.S.’ coastal trade and helping mitigate America’s energy crisis.
The legislation would specifically repeal the regulations that require vessels that carry U.S. goods by water between U.S. ports to be constructed in the U.S., registered in the U.S., owned by U.S. citizens, and primarily crewed by Americans.
Companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
“When antiquated red tape goes uncut, American businesses and families pay the price,” Lee told The Daily Signal.
“The Jones Act is a perfect example. A regulation that’s over a century old is forcing American producers to import oil from Russia, putting our energy independence at risk and increasing costs for consumers,” the Utah senator explained.
“A law that incentivizes American businesses to rely on a foreign nation for energy resources is a bad law. The Open America’s Waters Act will repeal this regulatory burden to bring prices down for Americans, protect our national security, and secure American energy dominance,” Lee said.
In a press release announcing the introduction of the legislation, the Utah senator’s office makes the argument that the Jones Act has actually had the opposite effect of its intent, which was to protect Americans, by restricting Americans’ access to critical energy resources and forcing American companies to rely on adversarial nations for those resources.
“For example, cattle ranchers in Hawaii have opted for expensive planes rather than boats to transport cattle to the mainland. Puerto Rico imports jet fuel from Venezuela—benefiting the human rights-violating Maduro regime—rather than nearby Gulf Coast refineries,” the press statement noted.
Moreover, because of the burdensome regulations, the Jones Act increases costs for American consumers. For example, shipping goods to Puerto Rico from U.S. ports costs 150% more than shipping them to the U.S. territory in the Caribbean from some foreign ports.
Defenders of the Jones Act say that it protects American jobs related to the maritime-transportation sector. According to American Maritime Voices, a group that was created in partnership with a domestic maritime industry lobbying group, the act supports about 650,000 American jobs with $150 billion in annual economic impact. The group also claims that five indirect jobs are created for every direct maritime job, leading to more than $41 billion in labor compensation.
But opponents of the act say that the job numbers do not tell the full story about the Jones Act’s impact on domestic shipbuilding. The number of oceangoing ships made in the U.S. per year has declined during much of the time the act has been in place, from 45 ships in 1953 to just five ships in 2015.
Some supporters of the act also contend that the law boosts U.S. national security by preventing reliance on ships and personnel that ultimately owe their allegiance to foreign powers. However, the Jones Act’s hindrance of national security becomes particularly apparent during crises, sometimes leading to it being waived. After a cyberattack damaged the strategically important Colonial Pipeline in 2021, the Biden administration granted a temporary waiver to allow a company to transport oil products unhindered by Jones Act regulations.
The cyberattack had caused gas prices to spike and gas stations in states as far-flung as Georgia and Virginia to experience fuel shortages. The Biden administration granted a second waiver of the Jones Act for a ship carrying diesel fuel after Hurricane Fiona devastated Puerto Rico in 2022.
“Repealing this restrictive and counterproductive law is vital for the new golden age that President [Donald] Trump has envisioned,” McClintock said in a statement.
