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The Jones act only prevents cabotage[1], which is to say shipping something between two places in the same country. It in no way prevents the Dominican Republic
by Aloha 9y ago
The Jones act only prevents cabotage[1], which is to say shipping something between two places in the same country. It in no way prevents the Dominican Republic from shipping supplies or people, or any other country for that matter in shipping stuff there.
It's my opinion that while the Jones Act probably does increase the cost of shipping goods two and from the island, its not a magic catchall fixit - and beyond that, every report I've read makes it clear we've enough stuff there to take care of people, but its not making it from the places where it landed, to the places where people are - and therefor complaints about the Jones Act seem mostly to be political haymaking - as the old saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabotage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabotage
- forapurpose 9y agoInteresting thoughts but ... > It's my opinion that while the Jones Act probably does increase the cost of shipping goods two and from the island, its not a magic catchall fixit No offense, but based on what? And then what is the impact of the Jones Act? If you have expertise in that industry to support the analysis, that would be great. Could you link to some of these reports?
- mikeyouse 9y agoThe Federal Reserve thinks that it doubles the price of shipping between Puerto Rico and the US Mainland: > It costs an estimated $3,063 to ship a twenty-foot container of household and commercial goods from the East Coast of the United States to Puerto Rico; the same shipment costs $1,504 to nearby Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and $1,687 to Kingston (Jamaica)—destinations that are not subject to Jones Act restrictions. Page 23 in the PDF (numbered 13): https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/regional/PuertoRico/report.pdf https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/regional/Puert... Terrible for disaster relief but also on a daily level, terrible for imports/exports. How can you have a competitive economy with that type of anchor weighing on your Ex/Im?
- Aloha 9y agoIt's probably not important for disaster relief (there doesnt seem to be a shortage of relief supplies, but rather a shortage of on-island transport to distribute them) - but I'd agree it is a huge drag on the local economy.
- anigbrowl 9y agoThat still prevents foreign ships from shipping supplies from the US mainland (where tehy are most readily available) to PR.