National Steel and Shipbuilding Company - NASSCO and The Jones Act

NASSCO and The Jones Act

Foreign countries subsidize their shipbuilding operations up to 30% of construction costs, where as the United States does not. As a result the American ship building industry relies on Jones Act to produce ships in a subsidized market. The Jones Act states, that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. NASSCO, as of 2006, has built and delivered more Jones Act ships than any other shipyards in the United States. NASSCO was awarded a $1 billion contract in 2006 with U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. to build nine product carrier tankers. This contract was made as a result of the Jones Act requirement, that stops foreign ships from traveling to a US port form another. NASSCO and other shipyards rely on the Jones Act to maintain Businesses in an unfair market.