[Alberta's Child]

I believe the Jones Act should be left in place, but should be amended. There's no reason to prohibit foreign vessels from operating between U.S. ocean ports where foreign vessels are already making port calls for international trips. For example, why prohibit a foreign-flagged freighter from operating between Los Angeles and Honolulu if the vessel is already permitted to sail from Singapore to Honolulu or from South Korea to Los Angeles?

The Jones Act should stay in place for all operations on inland waterways in the U.S.

[Teacher317]

why prohibit a foreign-flagged freighter from operating between Los Angeles and Honolulu if the vessel is already permitted to sail from Singapore to Honolulu or from South Korea to Los Angeles?

The easy get-around on that one is that foreign vessels need only get those permissions, then transport goods between US Pacific ports, so long as they make a quick stop in Vancouver or Tijuana for a day in between. In the Atlantic and the Gulf, they can make quick 24 pit stops in any Caribbean country. In short, your revision would gut the entire law, and American shipping companies would be ravaged.

The next debate then is whether this would be an overall net gain (lower prices) or net loss (lost jobs and possibly a lost industry) for America.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Sound a lot like Fifth Freedom Rights that the airlines have.