Image by Freddy from Pixabay

June 16, 2025 - WASHINGTON – Last week, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) introduced the Open America’s Waters Act to deregulate America’s coastal trade and alleviate the energy crisis by repealing the outdated Jones Act.  U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.

“The Jones Act is outdated in a global economy.  It enriches a very small special interest at the expense of every consumer in America,” said Rep. McClintock. “Repealing this restrictive and counterproductive law is vital for the new golden age that President Trump has envisioned.” 

“Outdated regulations from the Jones Act have deepened the energy crisis and heightened prices for Americans on goods from our own country,” said Senator Mike Lee. “American producers have been forced into dangerous workarounds like importing their energy resources from Russia. The Open America’s Waters Act will cut this 105-year-old red tape to alleviate the energy crisis, bring prices down for Americans, and protect our national security from adversarial nations.”

Background:

The Open America’s Waters Act would repeal the Jones Act, an outdated and particularly demanding regulation on America’s coastal trade. The Jones Act requires all goods transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on a vessel that was constructed and registered in the U.S., and is both owned and primarily crewed by U.S. citizens. 

While these requirements were originally touted in 1920 as necessary for America’s national security, they have actually endangered it by severely limiting access to critical energy sources and incentivizing American companies to contract with adversarial nations in their efforts to comply with its stipulations. Additionally, the elevated costs associated with compliance result in higher prices for Americans on goods produced in their own country.

Attempts to comply with the Jones Act have forced American producers to choose expensive and even politically risky transportation options. For example, cattle ranchers in Hawaii have opted for expensive planes rather than boats to transport cattle to the mainland. Puerto Rico imports jet fuel from Venezuela – benefitting the human rights-violating Maduro regime – rather than nearby Gulf Coast refineries. And because there are no compliant specialty carriers capable of transporting LNG or propane gas, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico have had to import LNG from adversarial Russia.

The Open America’s Waters Act would repeal the outdated Jones Act regulations to cut red tape for American producers, improve national security by disincentivizing contracts with adversarial nations, and bring down prices for American consumers.

The Open America’s Waters Act would:

•    Repeal the 105-year-old Jones Act regulations requiring all goods transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on a vessel: (1) Constructed in the U.S., (2) Registered in the U.S., (3) Owned by U.S. Citizens, and (4) Primarily crewed by U.S. citizens.

The House legislation is H.R. 3940.

Source: Congressman Tom McClintock