When did the US stop keeping up with the Joneses? A look at the maritime law at the crux of US shipbuilding

FOX News April 18, 2025 (excerpts)

 … President Donald Trump is seeking to revive the struggling U.S. shipbuilding industry that is drastically lagging behind China, and recently signed an executive order to kick off a series of initiatives aimed at growth. 

Specifically, the April 10 order requires agencies to craft a Maritime Action Plan and instructs the United States Trade Representative to provide a list of recommendations to deal with China’s "anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry," among other things.

But there is one, century-old law that is the cornerstone of the U.S. shipbuilding industry that proponents argue is paramount for national security purposes, while critics claim is responsible for significantly stifling the U.S. shipbuilding industry: the Jones Act. …

Lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, have launched efforts to repeal the Jones Act. For example, Lee introduced the Open America’s Waterways Act in January 2024 to rescind the law. …

Lee’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday that the senator would introduce the legislation again in this Congress….

Meanwhile, Trump has signaled interest in some kind of reforms and floated working with Congress to pass legislation authorizing the purchase of ships from foreign countries on April 10, although he did not provide specifics. Should that effort prove successful though, Grabow said it would place Jones Act defenders in a tight spot and weaken their argument. 

Even so, Grabow said it was unlikely efforts to fully repeal the law would prove successful, although the issue is receiving greater attention than in the past. 

"You do just see more and more chatter and more and more people seem (to be) waking up to the fact this law isn't working," Grabow said. "The fact we're even having this conversation about revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding is an indictment of the law. If the law was working, why would we even be having this conversation?" ….

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