Sooner or later, Americans will get fed up with the Jones Act

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.