Don’t waive the Jones Act!

Last updated on: September 28, 2017 at 12:26 pm by Jane the Actuary

Don’t waive the Jones Act! 2017-09-28T12:26:52-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If you’re like me, your twitter feed and facebook timeline have been chock full of “if Trump really cared about the people of Puerto Rico, he’d waive the Jones Act,” followed by “if Trump really cared about the people of Puerto Rico, he’d waive the Jones Act for longer than 10 days” after he did, in fact, waive the Jones Act, that is, override the usual requirement that ships traveling from one US port to another be American-flagged ships.

As Slate reports,

The administration had come under fire in part because it originally refused to waive the Jones Act for more than a week after Hurricane Maria, even though it had granted similar waivers amid Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The Department of Homeland Security had said in those cases the waivers had been justified by the shutting of fuel pipelines in the storms, which could have triggered shortages.

And as Vox reports,

According to John Frittelli’s 2014 analysis for the Congressional Research Service, it costs about twice as much to operate a ship complying with the Jones Act as a typical ship used for international cargo. Drewry Maritime Research concluded in 2013 that US-built, Jones-compliant vessels cost about four times as much to build as comparable foreign ships. . . .

But under the Jones Act, foreign-originating goods must be dropped off in Jacksonville and then shipped to Puerto Rico via an exorbitantly expensive Jones-compliant vessel. Likewise, it costs far more to ship US-produced goods to Puerto Rico than it does to Jamaica.

This raises the cost of living on Puerto Rico, makes Puerto Rico an unattractive place to produce goods bound for the US mainland, and has the bizarre effect of putting Puerto Rico at a competitive disadvantage to other Caribbean islands as a destination for American tourists.

In the US Virgin Islands, which are exempt from the law, US-made goods are about half as expensive, while the cost of living in Puerto Rico is 13 percent higher than on the American mainland. Food on Puerto Rico costs twice as much as it does in Florida, and that’s before the devastation of the island’s agriculture by Hurricane Maria.

Which all makes it sound very straightforward; Trump should waive the law to bring relief to the people of Puerto Rico, so that other ships, non-American ships, can transport cargo there from the mainland.

But we’re talking about a piece of legislation here. This is the responsibility of Congress. It is up to Congress to decide to include, or exclude Puerto Rico from the portions of the United States which are encompassed in these regulations. If you think it’s unfair that they are included in the law, when, when, unlike mainland U.S., goods cannot be trucked or trained there in response, then don’t gripe about the cruelty of Donald Trump. Write to your Congressman or Senator. Urge a legal change.

And, in any case, as Bloomberg reports, the issue is not, at the moment, a matter of getting goods across the Caribbean. Instead,

the problem wasn’t getting material to Puerto Rico, but distributing it over the island’s badly damaged roads. Thousands of cargo containers bearing millions of emergency meals and other relief supplies have been piling up on San Juan’s docks since Saturday. The mountains of material may not reach storm survivors for days.

“Bringing additional foreign ships into ports struggling to get back to normal operations will likely only exasperate the problem,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to colleagues.

The Jones Act is not a short-term issue, but one ingredient in the longer-term issue of Puerto Rico’s economy. And the right answer is not another exercise of Presidential power, but a return to Congress working together.

Image: https://pixabay.com/en/container-ship-cargo-ship-cargo-560789/ (public domain)

Uncategorized

Jones Act

Puerto Rico

Previous Post

September 26, 2017

Fixing Puerto Rico

Next Post

September 29, 2017 Bruce Rauner, Scorpion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the New Testament what is the last book?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Revelation Titus Matthew Luke