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Colin Grabow Profile picture
Colin Grabow
@cpgrabow
Associate Director, @CatoInstitute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies #EndTheJonesAct https://t.co/PumxFjaPQE
Apr 25, 2023 • 15 tweets • 6 min read
Unfortunately, I find the argument here unconvincing. In both the op-ed and the @YaleLJournal it is based on (yalelawjournal.org/note/the-negle…), the author argues that the Jones Act violates the Constitution's Port Preference Clause: Image
Apr 24, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Resolution introduced in Alaska's state legislature last month: "BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives urges the United States Congress to consider repealing the Jones Act."
akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Det… 👏 👏 👏 Image
Jan 27, 2023 • 17 tweets • 8 min read
U.S.-built ships are extraordinarily expensive, with prices 4-5x higher than those found abroad for certain vessel types. But why? Here's a quick 🧵 on the reasons sometimes offered and the reality behind them. One such reason/excuse is that U.S. shipyards are disadvantaged by comparatively stringent regulations related to health, safety, & the environment. But as @scottlincicome and I pointed out in a recent blog post, this holds little explanatory power. cato.org/blog/industria…
Jan 26, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
"Investing in new vessels is particularly challenging due to their *high capital costs*, short construction contracts, and difficulty in creating consistent pipelines of contracts." More on high Jones Act-compliant offshore wind capital costs in this thread:
Jan 17, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
One of the least enjoyable aspects of working is the process of actually getting to work—and government policies are making it worse.

The country can do better, and changes to public policy—including trade policy—can help.

A #NewWorker 🧵 Nearly 85% of Americans drive a car, truck, or some other vehicle to work and back.

Millions more commute using mass transit systems that are unnecessarily costly, slow (average one-way bus commute time: 46.6 minutes), or unreliable.
Jan 17, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Hard to imagine: "[@AlaskaDOTPF Spokesperson Sam Dapcevich] says the 60-year-old Matanuska has a fair amount of what’s called 'wasted steel.'" Ruh-roh: "In the meantime, Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound communities will be mostly served by ships built in the 1970s...There’s no long range plan or state savings to replace the aging fleet."

alaskapublic.org/2021/02/01/ala…
Jan 3, 2023 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
I recently came across @ChuckGrassley's remarks at a 1993 hearing on cargo preference (laws mandating the use of expensive U.S. commercial ships for government-impelled cargo). They are full of thermonuclear truth bombs regarding U.S. maritime policy: drive.google.com/file/d/15_KGLO… When critics point out the flaws of cargo preference or the Jones Act, defenders of the status quo typically counter that such measures are necessary to provide ships and mariners for military sealift. Grassley dismantles this line of argument.
Dec 29, 2022 • 27 tweets • 13 min read
President Biden is currently vacationing in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is exempt from the Jones Act. Seems like a good time to dig into the USVI's history with this protectionist maritime law. Originally a Danish territory, the United States had made attempts to acquire the Virgin Islands since 1867. But during World War I these efforts took on a new urgency due to fears Germany could conquer Denmark and use the islands as a naval base. 2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/w…
Dec 28, 2022 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
Today @algore is perhaps best known for his environmental activism. But in 1993 one of his top goals was improving public sector efficiency as head of an interagency task force called the National Performance Review. Among targets identified by the group: U.S. maritime policy. From the task force's draft report: "What is left of the U.S. maritime industry stands as a stark reminder of how protectionist, economic regulatory policies by our government literally razed the economic underpinnings of our once mighty and proud merchant marine fleet."
Dec 6, 2022 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
The Jones Act is Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. In his 1938 book "American Shipping Policy" (amazon.com/American-Shipp……) Paul M. Zeis explains the Merchant Marine Act's origins and how it was passed: ImageImage Zeis essentially makes two noteworthy claims here:

1. The MMA was written by the Senate Commerce Committee (under the chairmanship of Sen. Wesley Jones) and shipping lobbyists.
2. Few in Congress knew what was in the bill when it came up for a vote.
Nov 8, 2022 • 24 tweets • 12 min read
A lack of Jones Act-compliant tankers means 🇺🇸 LNG can be sent to China but not New England or Puerto Rico. Some may think the solution is building and subsidizing the operation of U.S. LNG tankers. But that’s a road the country has been down before, and it didn’t end well. 🧵 From 1977-1980 16 LNG tankers were built in three different U.S. shipyards, with 11 of the ships lavished with hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies. shipbuildinghistory.com/shipssincewwii…
drive.google.com/file/d/1y3-5Ji… ImageImage
Nov 3, 2022 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
Three 3,600 TEU Jones Act containerships ordered for $1 BILLION. Incredible. For perspective, last month a $1.14 billion order was placed from a Korean shipyard for SIX containerships with cargo capacities of *17,000 TEUs*: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Sep 28, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
👀 "A Jones Act medium range (MR) tanker newbuild currently costs around $200mn, compared with $45mn for an international-flagged MR, according to a broker." argusmedia.com/pages/NewsBody… Seems a bit high. This recent document places the cost at $160-$175 million: americanshippingco.com/wp-content/upl…

This means a Jones Act tanker costs anywhere from 3.5x ($160 million) to 4.4x ($200 million) the world price.
Sep 28, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
At *best* this indicates the Jones Act waiver process is far too restrictive/bureaucratic and needs to be reformed. But I'm not convinced bureaucracy and rules are the problems here. During the Colonial Pipeline outage last year Citgo requested a Jones Act waiver to move fuel (sound familiar?) from LA to NJ on May 12, 2021: maritime.dot.gov/sites/marad.do… Image
Sep 23, 2022 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
A short 🧵 with some thoughts on the letter sent by @NydiaVelazquez and 7 other members of Congress yesterday requesting that @DHSgov grant a one-year waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico. ImageImage First, I commend them for raising this issue and recognizing the Jones Act as an impediment to Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Fiona. Granting the island access to expanded and more efficient shipping options from U.S. ports is the least the federal government can do.
Sep 20, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Another example of a ship shipping ship shipping shipping ships. Just to stay on brand, there are none of these heavy lift ships in the Jones Act fleet: sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R4572… Image
Jul 12, 2022 • 50 tweets • 28 min read
Last month @AOC mentioned the Jones Act on her Insta (), linking to this 2017 @latimes piece about the law & Puerto Rico: latimes.com/nation/la-na-j…

But that just scratches the surface. Let's do a deep dive into the history of the JA's impact on 🇵🇷 (🧵). An armistice signed by Spain on August 13, 1898 during the 🇪🇸-🇺🇸 War relinquished control of Puerto Rico. Two days later 🇵🇷 was placed under coastwise laws requiring the use of US vessels for transport b/w the island and US ports as a "military measure": drive.google.com/file/d/1vTAWre… Image
May 31, 2022 • 21 tweets • 11 min read
Informative podcast about the Jones Act. Since Shawn is based in Guam, thought it would be a good opportunity to do a 🧵 about the Jones Act's impact on the island. Guam is the only 🇺🇸 territory in the Pacific subject to the Jones Act, with American Samoa and the Confederation of the Northern Mariana Islands both exempt. Wake, Midway, and Kingman Reef are subject to the JA but aren't territories (nor, I believe, have permanent residents).
Dec 30, 2021 • 28 tweets • 15 min read
It's that time for year-end lists, so here are my top 10 most ridiculous vessels operating under U.S. coastwise laws (e.g. Jones Act, Foreign Dredge Act, Passenger Vessel Services Act). 🧵: 1. CHEMICAL PIONEER

Built in 1968 as a containership called the SEA WITCH, it collided with a tanker in 1973 called the ESSO BRUSSELS, producing quite the fire: americasfireboat.org/finest-hour-co…
Dec 30, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Jones Act: "While the US has become the largest producer of natural gas and an ever-larger exporter of LNG, the country does not produce LNG carriers. Since there are no US LNG carriers, New England cannot benefit from the build-out of LNG export facilities along the [GoM]..." Beyond the Gulf Coast, note there are also LNG export facilities at Elba Island, GA and Cove Point, MD that are even closer to New England:
Dec 17, 2021 • 37 tweets • 13 min read
Per @JoshuaSteinman's suggestion, here's a 🧵 about the Jones Act. The term "Jones Act" typically refers to Section 27 of the 1920 Merchant Marine Act, which restricts domestic waterborne transport of goods to vessels that are US-flagged, built, & at least 75% US-owned & crewed. Background: US maritime protectionism didn't begin in 1920. When Congress passed the 1789 Tariff Act among its provisions were discriminatory duties on shipping. Foreign ships could transport goods between US ports but were subject to much heavier duties than US vessels.