IIRC, circa 1817 the U.S. Congress, lead by Southern Democrats passed a similar Navigation Act, signed into law by Southern Democrat President James Monroe.
At that time Southern cities like Charleston, Norfolk & Baltimore had thriving shipbuilding industries.
It was not until decades later that the new requirements for steam powered ships made such Southern manufacturing non-viable.
Now, according to DiogenesLamp, it was nefarious "Northeastern Power Brokers" who killed off Southern shipbuilding, through their control over Washington, D.C..
But if that were true, wouldn't the Congressional Record show many examples of Southern Democrat bills in Congress attempting to overthrow the alleged control of their Northeastern Power brethren?
And yet there are none, leading to yet another reason for chalking off DiogenesLamp's ideas as pure fantasies.
Maybe Diogenes ought to light that lamp once and a while. Or put a wick in it.
“In 1817, Congress passed the Navigation Act, which largely resurrected the British legislation of the same name. Its provisions included a complete ban on foreign vessels from the coastal trade, enabling an already thriving merchant marine to further consolidate its position at home and abroad. One history of American shipping estimates that by 1818, the size of the coastal fleet — measured in tons — was the same as the oceangoing fleet.
The laws had unintended consequences. In the early 19th century, American shipyards and sailors could build and crew ships more cheaply and efficiently than almost any other nation, including Great Britain. Nonetheless, in the 1830s, British politicians chose not to retaliate. Instead, they opted to embrace free trade. In 1849, they stopped shielding their shipping industry from foreign competition.
This unilateral move prompted some Americans to consider doing the same. But the same year that the British steered toward free trade, the Americans discovered gold in California, prompting a massive movement of people and goods to and from the West. Though the east and west coasts weren’t actually continuous, that didn’t stop domestic shippers from invoking cabotage laws to chase out foreign competition from the new and extremely lucrative market.
But the British had the last laugh. It enjoyed a significant competitive advantage in ironworking, and in the 1850s, that country’s shipbuilders pioneered iron-hulled ships. These cheap sailing ships weighed less than American clippers and had more cargo space, and they quickly began to supplant the competition. In time, the British took the lead in building steam-powered ocean-going vessels as well. They quickly supplanted the Americans.”
https://gcaptain.com/why-the-us-embraced-the-jones-act-a-century-ago/