China Concerns Are No Reason to Maintain the Jones Act Status Quo

Colin GrabowAs scrutiny of theJones Act intensifies, defenders of the 100 ‐​year‐​old law have come up with ever more imaginative justifications for keeping it in place. One argument currently en vogue is casting the Jones Act as a bulwark against Chinese expansionism. Such framing is not difficult to understand given the poisoned state of U.S.-China relations.But is it actually true? Would China take over or dominate domestic shipping in the Jones Act ’s absence? There is considerable reason for skepticism.It ’s perhaps first worth noting that China, while a major shipping player, hardly dominates the field. Measured by deadweight tonnage (carrying capacity by weight), China and Hong Kong collectively own approximately15.5 percent of the world ’s ships. Ships flying the China and Hong Kong flags, meanwhile, account for less than 9 percent of the world ’s total as measured by deadweight tonnage.In international shipping, Americans are free to use ships from any country for exporting and importing. Yet the overwhelming majority are from countries other than China. Of thetop 40 shipping lines that carry U.S. exports, only a single one is headquartered in China. That line, Cosco/ ​OOCL, has a 9.4 percent market share of U.S. exports. For the shipping of U.S. imports Cosco/ ​OOCL weighs in at 12.3 percent.Similarly, ships built in any country can be registered in the United States for the purpose of transporting goods internationally (...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs