The maritime industry may not like being compared to the Sicilian Mafia, but there is an element of truth to this analogy when considering the quick about-face President Trump made recently on the 99-year-old protectionist law known as the Jones Act.

After signaling earlier this month that he may waive the act’s requirement that only American-made ships be used to transport liquefied natural gas between American ports, Trump later cried “uncle” and reversed course. Republican senators in the shipbuilding states of Mississippi and Louisiana complained — they don’t want foreign-made ships taking domestic natural gas from Texas and Maryland to Massachusetts and Puerto Rico.