The century-old Jones Act requires that ships carrying goods between USA ports be built in the USA and crewed by American workers.
(Bloomberg) The Biden administration is open to waiving domestic shipping restrictions to allow foreign tankers to transport fuel to areas with shortages due to the Colonial Pipeline Co. outage, the White House said Wednesday.
The century-old Jones Act requires that ships carrying goods between U.S. ports be built in the U.S. and crewed by American workers. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the government would consider waiver requests, but stopped short of saying the administration would grant them.
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Update: Wednesday, May 12: The White House has chimed in saying the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for issuing Jones Act waivers, is ready to review waiver requests from companies that can show there is insufficient capacity within the Jones Act fleet.
“DOT’s Maritime Administration concluded their assessment of what assets are available in the Jones Act fleet to carry petroleum products within the Gulf, and from the Gulf up the Eastern Seaboard. The Department of Homeland Security stands ready to review any temporary Jones Act waiver requests from companies that demonstrate there is not sufficient capacity on Jones Act-qualified vessels to carry fuel to the affected region,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Dear Capitolisters,
A minor travel industry scandal to the extent such things exist erupted last week when the Canadian government extended its pandemic‐related moratorium on foreign port arrivals, thus imperiling U.S. cruises to not only coastal Canada (which is delightful) but also Alaska. This prompted immediate outrage from Alaska’s congressional delegation, given the numerous jobs at stake in tourism‐reliant places along the Alaskan coast. Tellingly unmentioned by the congresscritters, however, was
why cruises run by American companies, primarily serving Americans, and both starting
and ending at American ports even need to stop in Canada in the first place. The reason: Laws regulating “cabotage” a fun word meaning “the right to operate sea, air, or other transport services within a particular territory” dramatically restrict the transport of goods and people between domestic ports. This causes all sorts of problems, which Alaska’s senators and
Photo: Bollinger Shipyards US shipbuilders and the offshore sector have added their support to new US President Biden this as an Executive Order dealing with “Buy American” showed explicit support for the Jones Act.
The wording, from a brief published by the White House, states: “The President will continue to be a strong advocate for the Jones Act and its mandate that only US-flag vessels carry cargo between US ports, which supports American production and America’s workers. With the signing of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act [NDAA], the Jones Act has also been affirmed as an opportunity to invest in America’s workers as we build offshore renewable energy, in line with the President’s goals to build our clean energy future here in America.”