How an Old Shipping Law Raises Consumer Prices

Donald Trump is the most protectionist president America has seen in more than a century. So it’s odd that a consequence of his war on Iran has been the waiving of one of the most protectionist pieces of legislation on the books: the Jones Act. Passed in 1920, the Jones Act requires that all shipments by water within the United States, including by ocean, be made on ships that are built in America, owned by American companies, and crewed by American mariners. In normal times, this would be the…