IBEW Backs Jones Act & Domestic Shipbuilding
By the Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO. Delegates to the 41st International Convention of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in San Diego sent a strong message of support for the Jones Act and the American shipbuilding industry. On Sept. 24, delegates adopted two maritime resolutions submitted by IBEW Local 58: Resolution No. 45, which […]
Emergency Energy Waiver Doesn’t Match the Market
By George Landrith, President, Frontiers of Freedom. America needs a strong oil and gas industry. We also need a strong American maritime industry. Those two propositions should not be in conflict. In a serious nation, energy security and maritime security reinforce each other. Refineries keep our economy moving, our farms productive, our military supplied, and […]
What the Washington Post Gets Wrong about the Jones Act
After more than 100 days, ships using the Jones Act waiver moved only about 32 million barrels of petroleum. That is roughly 1.5 percent of U.S. petroleum consumption during that same period. According to analysis from American Maritime Partnership and Navigistics Consulting, about 18 percent of waiver voyages were performed by vessels linked to Chinese […]
Trump’s Jones Act waiver isn’t ‘America First,’ it’s a gift to foreign fleets
By William P. Doyle, CEO, Dredging Contractors of America. The Trump administration acted quickly after the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, temporarily waiving the Jones Act in hopes of easing pressure on American fuel markets. That was an emergency decision. The question now is whether the facts still justify it. They do not. The […]
A ship linked to China’s military sailed from Baltimore. That should worry US workers
By Chris Westbrook, Vice President, Gulf Coast, at the Seafarers International Union. Last month, a ship docked at a refinery in the small town of Reserve, Louisiana, roughly a half-hour drive from New Orleans. The vessel departed from Baltimore, and sailed down the Atlantic coast, loaded with asphalt and other manufacturing material. On its face, nothing about this […]
Shipping Waiver Subsidizes Beijing’s Fleet and Weakens Shipyards
By Michael D. Purzycki. June 23, 2026 On March 18, less than three weeks into the conflict with Iran, President Trump signed a waiver of the Jones Act. Originally meant to last 60 days, it was later extended an additional 90 days. While this waiver was officially intended to lower gasoline prices that rose when […]
Community Rallies to Rebuild Lahaina
By Pasha Hawaii. Nearly three years after the August 8, 2023 Lahaina wildfire, Maui’s recovery has entered a new phase – one defined not by emergency response, but by steady, determined rebuilding. While the headlines have faded, the work continues every day, led by a community that has remained deeply committed to restoring Lahaina, one […]
Jones Act Waiver Has Proven Why Repeal Is the Wrong Answer
By Jennifer Carpenter, President of the American Maritime Partnership. For years, critics of the Jones Act have made the same promises: repeal the law, allow foreign vessels into domestic trade, and American consumers will see lower prices and stronger supply chains. Now the real-world test case is underway, and it is failing to make a […]
Trump Extends Jones Act Waiver
(The Center Square) – The Trump administration has suspended for an additional 90 days a law forbidding foreign-owned and crewed ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports in an effort to contain price increases and to advance national security aims. “President Trump issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver,” Taylor Rogers of the White […]
Anti-Jones Act Candidate Finishes Last in Crowded Illinois Senate Primary
By VOICES Staff. In one of the most crowded Democratic primaries in recent Illinois history, U.S. Senate candidate Steve Botsford finished at the bottom of the field, underscoring the steep challenges facing outsider candidates running on anti-industrial policy platforms. Botsford, a Chicago-area real estate investor and former legislative aide, was one of at least ten […]