Colin Grabow and Scott Lincicome write in The Wall Street Journal about how protectionism hurts U.S. shipping.
- Protectionist policies like the Foreign Dredge Act and Jones Act, which are both more than a century old, inflate shipbuilding costs and stifle competition.
- U.S.-built tankers cost four times more than tankers built overseas and the U.S. fleet is significantly older than the global average.
- This not only hurts economic competitiveness and increases costs, but also has implications for clean energy and LNG.
- Congress should repeal these laws to allow competition and innovation to flourish.
“For too long Washington has ignored the decline of the country’s maritime sector. Mounting international challenges have brought much-needed scrutiny and should prompt an overhaul of the country’s antiquated shipping policies. Any such effort must include the removal of protectionist measures that have long held the U.S. fleet back.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
