Re:It’s Time to Repeal the Jones Act
by jjk166 on Wednesday October 19, 2022 @05:45PM
(#33268291)
It sounds like the current system utterly failed to protect the market. The Jones act encourages US shipping to be done over land, meaning there are fewer orders for ships and less (at this point zero) work for US shipyards. Mandating that US ships be US made only works if there are still US ships. We should instead be reinstating the subsidies that used to be in place to keep American shipbuilders competitive with other countries who subsidize their shipbuilding industries for exactly the same strategic considerations. Keeping in place the same policies that destroyed American shipbuilding is very bad for our future as a naval power.
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So why not just push for subsidies since that is the entirety of the argument you just made? Does China have it's own version of the Jones Act? Since China is the 'model of success' as the largest ship builder, do they allow foreign ships and foreign crews?
I very clearly also argued that the Jones act's repeal also helps. Why would you invest in something while at the same time actively harming it? America's shipbuilding industry is a husk of its former self and every effort must be made to revitalize it. Subsidies alone would be a half measure.
China does not have its own version of the Jones act, it's a uniquely American problem. Most countries aren't stupid enough to kill their internal industry.