If ‘America First’ is the plan, why are Chinese and Russian vessels moving freely in America’s waterways?

In March, the Trump administration invoked an emergency waiver of the Jones Act, citing national defense concerns stemming from disruptions to global energy markets and rising fuel costs during the conflict with Iran and threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The waiver, initially issued for 60 days and since extended, temporarily permits foreign-flag vessels to transport certain petroleum products and other energy cargoes between U.S. ports, voyages that would otherwise be restricted to American vessels by the Jones Act.

But the waiver has not had the intended impact of lowering fuel costs. Instead, a side effect is perhaps more costly: Chinese-owned vessels and Russian-crewed tankers are moving freely between U.S. seaports.

The Chinese vessel 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 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,” Seafarers International Union Vice President Chris Westbrook told maritime news outlet gCaptain.

“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.”

Closer to home, the Pyxis Lamda, a Maltese-flagged petroleum tanker whose senior officers are Russian citizens, recently sailed from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Tampa under the waiver.

Nationwide, the Jones Act helps sustain around 650,000 jobs while pumping billions of dollars into the economy every year. In Florida, the domestic maritime industry supports nearly 66,000 jobs and generates an annual economic impact of $14.6 billion, according to the Transportation Institute.

Using publicly available data, the Transportation Institute found that most waiver voyages on foreign-flagged vessels ran on routes already well served by American-flag Jones Act vessels, often taking longer, cost-inefficient routings that would not occur under normal market conditions.

Tampa-based Overseas Shipholding Group CEO Samuel Norton noted that his company has dedicated three vessels in long-term charters to serve East Coast refineries with Gulf Coast crude, and that Gulf-to-Mid-Atlantic and New England movements occur regularly on U.S.-flag tug-barges and tankers.

Other OSG coastwise vessels serve the U.S. Gulf-to-West Coast and Alaska-to-West Coast trades, carrying refined products and crude oil.

“Available domestic capacity has not been the constraint,” Norton said.

In a letter to President Donald Trump last month, 51 members of Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida U.S. Reps. Aaron Bean, John Rutherford, Jimmy Patronis, Brian Mast and Kat Cammack, requested that the current Jones Act waiver be allowed to expire as scheduled on Aug. 16.

“Our nation’s strongest shield against foreign exploitation of American waterways is the Jones Act, which requires vessels transporting cargo between U.S. ports to be American-built, American-owned, American-crewed, and American-flagged. As with similar laws governing other modes of transportation, the Jones Act ensures that domestic waterborne commerce is conducted by U.S. vessels and mariners rather than by heavily subsidized foreign competitors,” the members of Congress wrote.

“In short, the Jones Act waiver has become a loophole exploited by adversarial countries to erode America’s maritime dominance. For these reasons, we respectfully request that you allow the waiver to expire.”

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Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.