Support
Supporters of the Shipping Act maintain that the legislation is of strategic economic and wartime interest to the United States. The act, they say, protects the nation's sealift capability and its ability to produce commercial ships. In addition, the act is seen as a vital factor in helping maintain a viable workforce of trained merchant mariners for commerce and national emergencies. Supporters say that it also protects seafarers from deplorable living and working conditions often found on foreign-flagged ships. Finally, they point to the key role played by the US Merchant Marine in supporting Global operations against terrorism and the Iraq and Afghanistan Campaigns. They claim that without these assets, the US would be under substantial foreign influence in conducting its policy in accordance with National Security.
Additionally, some proponents make the case that allowing foreign-flagged ships to engage in commerce in American domestic sea lanes would be like letting a foreign automaker establish a plant in the U.S. which doesn't have to pay U.S. wages, taxes, or meet national safety or environmental standards.
“America needs a strong and vibrant U.S.-Flag Merchant Marine. That is why you … can continue to count on me to support the Jones Act (which also includes the Passenger Vessel Services Act) and the continued exclusion of maritime services in international trade agreements.” Barack Obama, August 28, 2008
“I can assure you that a Reagan Administration will not support legislation that would jeopardize this long-standing policy ... embodied in the Jones Act ... or the jobs dependent on it.” President Ronald Reagan, 1980
The SS NORTHERN LIGHTS made 25 voyages and 49 port calls . She carried 12,200 pieces of military gear totaling 81,000 short tons and covering over 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). Those statistics clearly demonstrate the value that the U.S.-flag shipping industry brings to the Defense Transportation System.” General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Commander in Chief, U. S. Transportation Command, 2005
The Jones Act has been supported politically at least in lip service by Presidents Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter and Ford, and further all the way back to Woodrow Wilson who originally signed it into law in 1920. It is supported by American military leaders, most recently in a statement by Lt. Gen. Roger Thompson, deputy commander in chief, U.S. Transportation Command. There also are 239 co-sponsors of a pro-Jones Act Resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Furthermore, there are other domestic interests which support the Act both from self-interest in keeping them cost competitive in some areas in contrast to the high-cost of sea traffic as well as more altruistic policies of keeping a diversified transportation system. In fact, all of these transportation interests intersect seafaring cargo at some point in the supply line. Consequently, retention of the Jones Act is also supported from the domestic airline, trucking, and rail industries. "Reduced to its essential terms, the Jones Act simply requires companies operating in the domestic commerce of the United States to comply with U.S. laws. This requirement includes corporate taxes, the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, Coast Guard standards, employing American citizens, etc. American ships are subject to these laws and foreign ships are not. This same fundamental principle applies to every other company doing business in the United States, from agriculture to retail." (Quote from R.J. Pfeiffer 1997. Maritime expert former CEO Alexander Baldwin.)
However, aspects of the cabotage act have been successfully removed, most importantly concerning the requirement that shipping crossing within certain navigational miles of US territory must enter the nearest US port and transfer to another US vessel if the final destination is another US sovereign. Thus on trade through the Caribbean vessels had to turn in at such islands as U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, or especially on trade through the Pacific vessels had to turn in on islands such as Midway Island, Henderson Island, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas. In the case of the Pacific islands, the long distances required large inter-oceanic US-flagged vessels to be used for the remainder of the voyage, thereby increasing costs. Consequently, foreseeing the rising China and Latin America trade, large multinational corporations successfully lobbied to have the Jones Acts jurisdiction removed from those areas.
Read more about this topic: Merchant Marine Act Of 1920
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