The Jones Act

Central to the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry is the U.S. Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act, which ensures a robust and competitive domestic shipyard industrial base. Shipbuilders Council of America strongly supports the Jones Act, as well as policies and programs that promote domestic manufacturing; the inland tug and barge industry; offshore oil and gas development; offshore renewable energy development; the non-contiguous trades; and America’s commercial fishing fleets.

As a result of the Jones Act, the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry and its related supplier base support America’s fleet of more than 40,000 commercial vessels.

The Jones Act ensures a robust shipbuilding industrial base that helps ensure the U.S. maintains its expertise in shipbuilding and ship repair that can be utilized by the nation’s armed forces.

An Uneven International Playing Field

The U.S. commercial market has been squeezed by a variety of factors including the large amount of latent tonnage on the international market, a result of decades of subsidies by foreign countries like China, Japan and South Korea. Asian countries maintain roughly 90% of the world’s market share by subsidizing their shipyards (China), bailing out failing shipyards (Korea, China) and providing extensive shipbuilding financing capital. Most recently, South Korea announced a mid-term restructuring plan that will underwrite the construction of 200 commercial vessels over the next three years to the tune of more than $5 billion to prevent the closure of Korea’s shipyards.

Opponents to U.S. industry will continue to call for this work to be exported overseas, which would further erode the industrial base. The U.S. government needs to acknowledge that U.S. shipyards do not compete on an international level playing field.

Back to Critical Issues and Legislation

Our Members

Our mission is to unify the industry and serve as the definitive shipyard industrial base advocate in Washington, D.C. and around the country.

Shipbuilders Council of America keeps its members informed on all matters important to their growth, profitability and success involving legislative, regulatory, and policy matters and represents members before Congress, Executive Branch agencies and departments, public policy organizations and industry associations.

Become a Member