Cantwell Blasts Trump’s Suspension of the Jones Act

Cantwell Blasts Trump's Suspension of the Jones Act

American shipbuilding industry dealing with "a tremendous amount of uncertainty"; Trump admin issued a temporary waiver of the Jones Act under the guise of lowering gas prices; reporting shows the move has had very little impact on increasing gas prices

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the committee, emphasized the need for the United States to support American maritime workers and shipbuilders, especially as the Trump Administration's waiver of the Jones Act threatens to further destabilize the industry.

During a hearing Q&A with Clay Heil, vice president of government relations for Crowley Maritime Corporation, Sen. Cantwell asked about the impact of a potential extension of the waiver.

"We have a temporary waiver on the Jones Act, which creates a little more uncertainty," Sen. Cantwell said. "So I wanted to know specifically from you, Mr. Heil - if the waiver is extended again, what would that mean for investments in shipyards and workforce development? Does it create uncertainty? How should we communicate about this?"

Heil responded: "The current waiver has created a tremendous amount of uncertainty- now 150 days - which is unprecedented. An unprecedented amount of time. To be extended again would be another signal to the investment community and to companies like ours and to mariners that the Jones Act is unstable, and investment will flee. Our U.S. mariners will wonder will they have jobs.

"This budget request for FY27 includes a large investment in the Merchant Marine Academy, which is sorely needed," Heil continued. "But without the Jones Act, we don't need a Merchant Marine Academy, frankly. It's hard to see why that investment would be moving forward. The Jones Act supports the jobs from the Merchant Marine Academy - those go into our commercial mariners, into the U.S. military. They're critical, and the Jones Act is the foundation for all of that. So when you talk about an extended waiver, it would be extremely damaging to every part of the U.S. maritime industry."

Sen. Cantwell: "Well, we certainly don't want that. We certainly want a very strong Jones Act, and we certainly want a strong shipbuilding [industry].

Video of their exchange is HERE; a transcript is HERE.

Originally established in 1920, the Jones Act requires that all shipping vessels delivering goods between U.S. ports be built, owned, flagged, and crewed by Americans. Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued a waiver on the Jones Act in a largely ineffective attempt to curb the oil prices that continue to rise as a result of his conflict in Iran. Sen. Cantwell pressed that building America's maritime industrial base requires long-term certainty for shipyards, vessel operators, and maritime workers. Sen. Cantwell warned that the Administration's unprecedented Jones Act waiver is creating market uncertainty at the very moment Congress and industry are working to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity.

The Jones Act supports approximately 650,000 American jobs and contributes more than $150 billion annually to the U.S. economy. The U.S. maritime industry includes nearly 40,000 vessels, 300+ shipyards, and tens of thousands of mariners. Witnesses testified that shipyards and vessel operators make investment decisions on 20- to 30-year timelines, requiring stable federal policy. America cannot rebuild its shipyards with one hand while weakening the laws that support American-built, American-crewed, and American-flagged vessels with the other.

Sen. Cantwell is a stalwart supporter of the Jones Act and of the American shipbuilding industry. Last year, she invited Tuuli Snow, of Ballard, WA-based shipbuilder Snow & Company, for a committee hearing focused on revitalization of our nation's commercial shipbuilding industry. In 2023, Sen. Cantwell successfully negotiated a 50% increase in the Maritime Administration Small Shipyard Grant Program, which was passed in the National Defense Authorization Act.

In Washington state, the maritime sector supports 174,000 jobs through maritime logistics, shipping, shipbuilding, seafood, maritime transportation, and associated trades. In total, the sector supports $45 billion of economic revenue.

The U.S. is significantly lagging in shipbuilding capacity. In 2022, China had 1,794 commercial ocean-going ships under construction, South Korea had 734, Japan had 587, Europe had 319, and the U.S. had only five. China, South Korea, and Japan construct more than 90 percent of the world's shipping tonnage; the U.S. builds only about 0.2 percent.

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