(GARYVILLE, La.) — Union members and officials gathered Thursday at the Marathon Garyville Refinery to peacefully protest the arrival of the Chinese vessel Jin Zhou Wan, an asphalt carrier owned by a Chinese military company believed to be carrying domestic cargo from the Port of Baltimore. This is a direct result of the Trump administration’s Jones Act waiver, which seafarers compared to “NAFTA on the water.”
Jin Zhou Wan has made at least three domestic voyages under the waiver. Collectively, there have been more than 130 such sailings by foreign-owned, foreign-built, foreign-crewed ships carrying cargo between U.S. ports.
American vessels and workers were available to move the cargo, but the administration’s blanket waiver is now allowing for foreign vessels and crews to take American jobs, according to the Seafarers International Union (SIU).
“Louisiana’s mariners should not have to stand by on the dock while a Chinese state-owned shipping company takes over work that belongs on American vessels,” said Chris Westbrook, SIU vice president Gulf Coast, who led the protest. “The Jones Act creates family-supporting jobs, strengthens our nation’s maritime readiness, and helps ensure America has the merchant marine it needs when our country calls. It’s time to end this waiver and restore these jobs to American workers.”
The Jones Act waiver ostensibly was implemented as a temporary emergency measure intended to ease fuel prices during the Iran war. Subsequent reporting found it neither increased domestic fuel supplies nor produced a measurable reduction in gasoline prices.
Both the initial 60-day waiver and subsequent 90-day extension are unprecedentedly long and have baffled rank-and-file mariners, business executives, and legislators. That’s because the Jones Act historically enjoys strong bipartisan support – it has defended U.S. national, economic and homeland security for more than a century.
Moreover, a compelling case could be made that the Jones Act is the ultimate “America First” law. It requires that cargo moving between domestic ports is carried aboard vessels that are crewed, owned, flagged and built American.
The U.S. is far from alone in maintaining a domestic cabotage law. More than 100 nations across the world have cabotage laws on the books similar to the Jones Act.
In the U.S., the Jones Act helps sustain around 650,000 jobs (including more than 70,000 in Louisiana) while pumping billions of dollars into the economy every year. Specifically for Louisiana, it generates more than $18 billion in annual economic output.
Louisiana’s congressional leadership, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Rep. Clay Higgins and Rep. Julia Letlow, who is running for the U.S. Senate, recently joined dozens of other House Republicans in calling on President Trump to end the ongoing Jones Act waiver.
– Seafarers International Union
