Young debater from Hawaii finds Jones Act reform a winning topic

from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

The following commentary was written by Hawaii homeschool senior Caleb White “as a testimony to [the work of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii] and the activeness of youth in Hawaii seeking the end of the Jones Act.”

In a letter sent this past October to Grassroot President Keli‘i Akina, White wrote: “Your articles and work with the Grassroot Institute have laid the foundation for my understanding of the Jones Act and encouraged me to start raising awareness and advocating for its abolishment. Two years ago I decided to argue for the abolishment of the Jones Act as an affirmative-team policy debate case in the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics & Communications Association).

“This last debate season, over five tournaments — including the regional championship, a national open and the national championship — our affirmative Jones Act record was 19-1, including  going 7-0 at national tournaments. This last year within the NCFCA, abolishing or amending the Jones Act became one of the most common cases nationwide, with many teams quoting directly from you and other Grassroot Institute articles.” 

White continued: “I hope you read this and know that you are making a difference, as people in Hawaii and around the nation are becoming aware of the harms of the Jones Act because of your commitment and research — including high schoolers like me who have felt the effects of higher prices my entire life. [I have] used your research to raise awareness, to analytically debate problems and solutions, and encourage other youth (soon to be voters), and adults to take a stance against selfish lobbying industries.”

White then mentioned that he had written “a finals research paper about the Jones Act … in the hopes of bringing statistics and facts about the Jones Act’s history to light,” which he invited Grassroot to publish. The following is a revised version of that paper.
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By Caleb White

On my 18th birthday, I received a T-shirt. It had a picture of a cargo ship on it with the words “REPEAL THE JONES ACT / BRING THE COWS / BACK TO EARTH.”

This is a strange gift to receive, but to a policy debater like me, it meant the world. It symbolized two years of hard work and dedication in my fight against selfish industries protected by the Jones Act.

The 104-year-old federal law benefits a few special interests by restricting the shipping of cargo from one U.S. port to another to only vessels that are U.S. flagged and built and mostly crewed and owned by Americans.

These rules have unfortunately led to the Jones Act failing at its primary goal of creating “an adequate American merchant marine in competition with the shipping of the world” — as U.S. Sen. Wesley Jones, architect of the law, himself put it.[1]

And that’s the point I have been making as a participant in debates sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, which facilitates speech and debate competitions nationwide for students ages 12 to 18.

After all, how can a policy that blocks foreign competition hope to make the U.S. more competitive internationally? In fact, it has done the complete opposite, with the U.S. carrying only a minute portion of international cargo and having an aging, declining oceangoing fleet with only four major shipyards remaining due to lack of orders for new vessels.[2]

Growing up in Hawaii, I have experienced firsthand the effects of the Jones Act on places that are highly dependent on waterborne shipping for their imports.

I would see towering cargo ships at the docks while my family complained that prices continued to soar because of everything needing to be shipped to the islands from somewhere else.

Similarly, export shipping prices are so high that Hawaii ranchers would rather fly their cattle to the mainland by air than send them by way of ocean cargo.[3]

I first found out about the Jones Act from an article by economist Gregory Rehmke in which he proposed various policy reforms.[4] At the top of his list was repeal or reform of the Jones Act.

At first glance, I thought the law seemed complicated and boring. But like any true nerdy debater, I spent the next three days reading dozens of articles about it, and the more I read, the more Hawaii’s hardships made sense.

When I began to understand this impact, I started saving articles such as the Cato Institute’s “The Jones Act: A Burden America Can No Longer Bear” and the Grassroot webinar of U.S. Rep. Ed Case and U.S. Sen Mike Lee discussing the 2020 Grassroot study that showed how the act costs Hawaii families about $1,800 a year. The cost of transportation, expensive U.S.-made vessels, inefficiency and complacency is paid by consumers — families like mine — many of whom have never even heard of the Jones Act.

With this in mind, I began using my team policy-debate skills to bring awareness about Jones Act reform to judges both locally and across the nation.

Since then, I have participated in two online national tournaments, the national championship in South Carolina, and eight regional tournaments in the state of Hawaii.

During our latest competitive season, our winning record for advocating Jones Act repeal was 19-1, including 7-0 against teams across the nation and at the national championship.

My favorite part of any debate has been watching the judges react to the absurdities that the Jones Act entails. Those include cows flying by plane; that Americans are free to buy foreign-built cars and planes but not foreign-built ships, if they intend to use them to transport goods between U.S. ports;[5] that some products are cheaper to import from foreign rather than U.S. sources because of the Jones Act-related shipping costs;[6] and that Jones Act carriers must use ships that cost four to five times more than on the world market.[7]

I have witnessed judges laugh at these absurdities and express concern when I would open my speeches with how the U.S. shipping industry spends millions of dollars every year funding their campaigns to keep the Jones Act in place.

On a couple of occasions, my partner and I had to switch sides and debate in favor of the Jones Act. For one of them, we went up against a younger, less experienced team and won. But the other, at a national championship, we lost(!), despite trying our best.

Our opponents would often cite numerous Jones Act defenders and lobbyists, but the judges — with different backgrounds, ages and debate experience — could see just how necessary Jones Act reform is.

In the words of trade policy analyst Colin Grabow, the Jones Act is truly “a burden America can no longer bear.”

Consumers, especially the struggling families in Hawaii and across the nation, should be seeking reform and advocating efficient supply chains. Rather than looking out for the people, the Jones Act looks out for a dying, complacent industry. It’s gotten harmful enough that many high schoolers like myself have begun taking a stance and trying to raise awareness.

It’s time to get rid of this obsolete law. It’s time to put consumers first and bring the cows back to earth.
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Caleb White of Kaneohe, Hawaii, is a homeschooled high school senior also enrolled at Windward Community College. He coaches speech and debate at Arise Academy in Kalihi.
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[1] U.S. Sen. Wesley L. Jones, “The Merchant Marine Act of 1920,” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. IX, 1920-1922, p. 89/233.
[2] John Frittelli, “U.S. Commercial Shipbuilding in a Global Context,” Congressional Research Service, Nov. 13, 2019, p. 1.
[3] Colin Grabow, Inu Manak and Daniel J. Ikenson, “The Jones Act: A Burden America Can No Longer Bear,” Cato Institute, June 28, 2018.
[4] Gregory Rehmke, “Reforming US Import/Export Policies,” Economicthinking.org, June 3, 2022.
[5] Jonathan Helton, “Planes, trains and automobiles — but not ships,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii,” April 21, 2020.
[6] “NEWS RELEASE: Exempt Hawaii from Jones Act to ensure continued oil imports,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Feb. 22, 2022; and Grabow, “The Jones Act: A Burden America Can No Longer Bear.”
[7] “U.S. Commercial Shipbuilding in a Global Context,” Congressional Research Service, Nov. 15, 2023, p. 2.