HI HR21

Urges Congress to exempt domestic shipments to and from Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico from the Jones Act requirement that ships be constructed in the United States.

Notes that the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 55102) requires domestically-shipped goods to be transported on U.S.-constructed, U.S.-registered, and U.S.-crewed vessels, creating an aging and inefficient fleet in noncontiguous areas.

States that U.S. ship construction costs four to five times more than comparable ships built in Japan or South Korea, with the U.S. averaging fewer than three deep-draft merchant ships annually.

Argues the construction requirement is not essential for national defense, as only seven domestic shipbuilding yards capable of building large oceangoing ships exist and primarily focus on naval vessels, producing insufficient merchant ships for wartime mobilization needs.

Proposes exempting noncontiguous domestic trade from the U.S. construction requirement while maintaining other Jones Act requirements regarding vessel registration, ownership, and crew nationality.