Michael Hansen of the Hawaii Shippers Council joins Malia Hill on the Grassroot Perspective Podcast to discuss the Jones Act, the provision of maritime law that requires goods shipped between US ports to be carried on US-flag ships that were constructed in the US and owned and crewed by Americans.
This piece of protectionism has created a number of absurd effects–such as making it cheaper for some states to import salt from South America than buy it from Ohio, or greatly increased the cost of fuel in the American Northeast.
But the most severe effects of the Jones Act are reserved for those places that depend heavily on shipping–islands like Hawaii or Puerto Rico. In this episode Malia and Michael discuss the effect of the Jones Act on Hawaii, the chances that it can be amended or repealed, and the latest in the efforts to analyze its economic impact.
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