Calls for its repeal notwithstanding, the Jones Act — a federal law requiring cargo shipped between U.S. ports be carried on vessels built and registered in the United States — is having little, if any, impact on Puerto Rico’s recovery from the ravages of the hurricane that devastated the island last month.
Amid complaints about the federal government’s slow response to the disaster, some critics laid at least part of the blame on the Jones Act, a federal law requiring that cargo shipped between U.S. ports, be carried only in vessels built and registered in the United States.
Supporters of the Jones Act say that the century-old law isn’t what’s slowing recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. The real problem, they contend, is getting supplies out of the ports and into the cities and countryside where they’re needed.
