>>1989565The US was the world’s largest shipbuilder during WW2, it was not the Jones Act that did this, but absolute wartime necessity that did. The US decline in shipbuilding relative to China, Japan, South Korea, and Europe is due to congressional ineptitude and not market forces. Why is Boeing a major aircraft manufacturer but US shipbuilders are in decline? Because congress invested heavily in aeronautics while not restricting competition, allowing American manufacturers to produce better aircraft which defeated their competition, not by saying “no Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier, or foreign made plane over US soil”.
The US arguably was able to industrialize due to having waterways, and ships are still the most cost-effective way to move materials and goods. According to the OECD, the US would gain $150 billion/ year in economic activity by liberalizing cabotage and ending the Jones Act. This is not including the decreased congestion it would put on the highways as trucks are not needed. There are various case studies exemplifying how interstate demand is not being met by Jones Act vessels, thereby replacing suppliers with imports from other countries.
>Massachuetts and New England receives about 20% of it’s natural gas demand through LNG. Despite the US being the world’s largest supplier of LNG, they cannot ship it to their own country’s ports since US shipyards lack the expertise to make LNG tankers, and they would also be too costly compared to foreign manufacturers. Therefore, New England has to buy LNG from Russia. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/tanker-carrying-liquefied-natural-gas-from-russias-arctic-arrives-in-boston/2018/01/28/08d3894c-0497-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html# 