Republican members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Donald Trump June 30 calling for the current Jones Act waiver, which has been in place since March 17, to be allowed to expire August 16.
With lead signers including House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the letter draws a direct link between the president’s “visionary Maritime Action Plan” and the Jones Act.
“As you outlined in your visionary Maritime Action Plan (MAP), a strong maritime industrial base is essential to the nation’s economic and national security, particularly as the United States works to reinforce its global strategic position,” the letter stated. “Your acknowledgement in the MAP that less than one percent of new commercial ships are built in the United States underscores the importance of protecting durable domestic maritime policy and safeguarding against foreign encroachment in our nation’s waterways.
“Our nation’s strongest shield against foreign exploitation of American waterways is the Jones Act, which requires vessels transporting cargo between U.S. ports to be American-built, American-owned, American-crewed, and American-flagged,” the letter stated.
The United States’ domestic commercial fleet moves more than 760 million tons of cargo each year, including agricultural products, petroleum, steel, coal and other commodities, according to data cited from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources.
Since the Jones Act waiver was put in place, around 95% of waiver voyages have been carried out by foreign operators “not subject to U.S. tax obligations or domestic regulatory requirements,” the letter stated, referencing data from the Maritime Administration.
“In short, the Jones Act waiver has become a loophole exploited by adversarial countries to erode America’s maritime dominance,” House Republicans wrote.
Rather than perpetuating the waiver to the Jones Act, House leaders called on Trump to “utilize alternative policy tools to address fuel and fertilizer costs while preserving the strength of the American maritime industry.”
Some in the commercial maritime industry took to social media channels to celebrate the letter from House Republicans.
“We’re thankful for the leadership of Congressman Steve Scalise and the 51 other House Republicans who signed this letter urging that the Jones Act waivers be allowed to expire as scheduled,” read a statement on LinkedIn by New Orleans-based Maritime Partners. “The Jones Act protects American maritime jobs and national security by ensuring cargo moved between U.S. ports is carried on American-built, owned, and crewed vessels. Continued waivers risk opening the door to foreign-flagged vessels operating in coastal trade, undermining the industry this law was built to protect.”
William Doyle, CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America, called the letter “a huge show of congressional support for America’s Jones Act maritime industry.”
“This is a strong congressional message that America’s domestic maritime industry, American shipyards, American mariners, and American jobs should come first,” Doyle said on LinkedIn.
