AWO—Weakening The Jones Act
(continued from page 6)
built ships operating in interna-
tional trade, allowing those ships
to compete on an equal basis with
the foreign shipping trade. Domes-
tic trade ships were guaranteed no
such subsidies on the basis that
domestic trade ships already en-
joyed fair and thriving competi-
tion among themselves. Clearly, to
allow subsidy-built ships into the
domestic trade would give those
subsidy-built ships an unfair com-
petitive edge, one which was not
intended by the Act of 1936, and
which would disrupt the current
environment of fair competition in
the Jones Act fleet.
Also under consideration by the
Administration is a proposal to ex-
port Alaskan oil to Japan in re-
turn for Japan's allotment of Mid-
eastern oil. Since the shipment of
this oil would be considered for-
eign trade, it would no longer be
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under the purview of the Jones
Act, and would pave the way for
foreign shippers to bid for the
business. This of course, is per-
haps secondary in importance to
the fact that when domestic oil is
available readily, it seems capri-
cious to renew our dependence
upon foreign oil sources.
Two other bills are currently in
the Congressional works as well.
One, the Frenzel bill, proposes to
repeal the Jones Act altogether.
Another would exempt Puerto Rico
from cabotage restrictions on pas-
senger vessels.
But perhaps the most threaten-
ing assault of all on the Jones Act,
in what seems like guerilla war-
fare, is Warren G. Leback's pub-
lication of a paper for presentation
at the 1983 Annual Meeting of the
Society of Naval Architect, which
proposed that foreign-built, but
U.S.-owned and registered vessels
be allowed to carry cargo in the
domestic coastwise trade. Mr. Le-
back is the Deputy Administrator
for Maritime Transportation at
the Department of Transportation.
Although the Maritime Adminis-
tration has stated that Mr. Le-
back's position does not reflect
MarAd's views, this opinion com-
ing as it does from the number two
man who is charged with promot-
ing our maritime industry is wor-
risome indeed.
What do all these threats on the
Jones Act mean to the barge and
towing industry? As long as they
remain just threats, they mean
relatively little. But any one of the
initiatives, if put into being, would
not merely alter the course of
long-standing maritime policy, but
would destroy forever any notion
of the U.S. maintaining a compet-
itive position in domestic or world
ocean trade. The Jones Act is an
essential piece of legislation which
both protects and supports our na-
tion's domestic transportation
structure. U.S. coastal and inland
vessels employ about 150,000 peo-
ple. Shipbuilding, terminal opera-
tions and other allied industries
sustain thousands of additional
jobs.
If foreign-flag operators are al-
lowed to participate in U.S. do-
mestic waterborne commerce,
American-flag vessels will ulti-
mately be driven out of our own
trade. The result would be an un-
paralleled vulnerability to the po-
litical and economic pressure of
foreign powers controlling the do-
mestic commerce of the United
States. America has a heavy in-
vestment in and a dependence
upon its merchant marine. We
cannot afford to hand over the re-
turn on that investment to foreign
corporations when by doing so we
would sacrifice our ability both to
defend our country and to main-
tain our standard of living.
18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
Digital Wave Publishing