On cargo ship construction, the Jones Act approximately quintuplets the price of ship construction at the exact same shipyard. Meaning, an American shipyard can construct a ship for a Mexican company can make the exact same ship for 1⁄5 the price as if it were allowed to transport cargo between two American ports. Military isn’t cargo related so I am curious if the Jones Act in any way impacts the lack of construction for the military ships described in this post.
It’s true that the US Navy isn’t allowed to buy cheaper ships from eg Korea, but that’s not because of the Jones Act, it’s a separate rule.
There’s just not much cargo shipped between 2 US ports. On the US mainland it’s cheaper to use rail than to go thru US ports twice and sail around. The Jones Act does slightly affect prices in Hawaii, and if the Hawaiian gov wants to go after it they can, but for the US as a whole, going after repealing the Foreign Dredge Act would probably be an easier & smarter thing to do than going after repealing the Jones Act.
But you really, really need to check your data on transit costs.
I don’t think I do, but maybe you can explain the math to me. You aren’t just comparing per-mile transport costs of loaded ships vs trains, are you? That would be silly, of course.
Could you clarify what you mean by “this” and how the Jones Act affects it?
On cargo ship construction, the Jones Act approximately quintuplets the price of ship construction at the exact same shipyard. Meaning, an American shipyard can construct a ship for a Mexican company can make the exact same ship for 1⁄5 the price as if it were allowed to transport cargo between two American ports. Military isn’t cargo related so I am curious if the Jones Act in any way impacts the lack of construction for the military ships described in this post.
It’s true that the US Navy isn’t allowed to buy cheaper ships from eg Korea, but that’s not because of the Jones Act, it’s a separate rule.
There’s just not much cargo shipped between 2 US ports. On the US mainland it’s cheaper to use rail than to go thru US ports twice and sail around. The Jones Act does slightly affect prices in Hawaii, and if the Hawaiian gov wants to go after it they can, but for the US as a whole, going after repealing the Foreign Dredge Act would probably be an easier & smarter thing to do than going after repealing the Jones Act.
Thanks for the confirmation on the navy. But you really, really need to check your data on transit costs.
I don’t think I do, but maybe you can explain the math to me. You aren’t just comparing per-mile transport costs of loaded ships vs trains, are you? That would be silly, of course.