Monday, November 29, 2021

China Relaxes Cabotage Rules While the United States Clings to Outdated Protectionism

Recommendable! Libertarian think tanks like to harp on the Jones Act! 😄

"... Although details remain scant, it appears that China will permit foreign vessels to engage in cargo relay by which cargo is transported by a company between two ports within a country and then transferred to another vessel owned by the same company for shipment abroad (or the reverse). To be conducted on a trial basis through the end of 2024, the liberalized rules will apply to the transportation of containers from the ports of Dalian, Tianjin, and Qingdao to Shanghai’s Yangshan port (the world’s busiest). ...
Not so the United States, which is subject to the onerous Jones Act. Deemed the world’s most restrictive cabotage law by the World Economic Forum, the Jones Act limits domestic waterborne cargo transport to vessels that are U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built, and mostly U.S.-crewed and owned. Such vessels are significantly more expensive to build and operate than internationally-flagged ships, which no doubt helps explain the lack of cargo relay and transshipment in the United States. ...  Instead, essentially all movement of containers between ports in the contiguous United States, including import and export containers, occurs by truck or train. ..."

China Relaxes Cabotage Rules While the United States Clings to Outdated Protectionism | Cato at Liberty Blog

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