Maritime Issues Remain After Election

The midterm elections have provided plenty of grist for pundits to cogitate over. The Democrats’ sweeping blue wave has given the party control of the House and Senate. It switched historically red states blue, or at least purple. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator in 94 years. Texas elected a Democratic senator who wasn’t even born when it elected its last one in 1988. Terms like “staggering,” “stunning” and “earthquake” are being thrown around.

How much does all this matter to maritime interests? Maritime issues have historically been bipartisan, and that remained true in this election cycle. Elected officials from coastal districts, major inland waterways regions and shipbuilding hubs tend to be reliable champions of the American merchant marine regardless of party. The big danger has always been neglect rather than partisan opposition.

The most important maritime core issue is ending the Jones Act waiver. Like opposition to the Iran war itself (a big driver of the election results), opposition to the waiver existed in both parties. The waiver’s most vocal supporters have largely been longtime Jones Act opponents, including some voices in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, segments of the oil industry and several libertarian-leaning think tanks.

Hundreds of voyages took place that would have been illegal without the waiver; tracking by the waiver-supporting Cato Institute recorded more than 300 by mid-October, involving more than 200 unique foreign-flag vessels and roughly 80+ million barrels of crude and petroleum products, with totals still rising.

The waiver was originally sold as an attempt to address oil and gas prices caused by the war’s disruptions. When it quickly became clear that it had zero effect on pump prices (since only a tiny amount of gasoline travels by tanker), its defenders switched to pointing out the number of voyages allowed.

Opponents then asked why Chinese-linked shipping entities were allowed to take part. The latest waiver extension included supposedly strict reporting requirements, but opponents claim these are being widely flouted or ignored.

America’s Maritime Partnership, which has led the charge against the waivers, released a letter to President Donald Trump after the election. “On behalf of … the men and women of the domestic maritime industry, we respectfully urge you to allow the current Jones Act waiver to expire on November 15. The waiver responded to an extraordinary energy disruption, but after eight months, the record is clear: continuation of the waiver threatens to curtail your ambitious agenda to unleash investment that will restore American maritime dominance. We are eager to work with you to advance that agenda, and we urge you to let the waiver expire as scheduled.”

Allowing that waiver to expire without further ado would be a great first step toward moving forward on the maritime agenda.