Striking the Right Balance for U.S. Shipping

It is time to reduce our exposure to China by bringing more production closer to home.

Wall Street Journal | Opinion – Letter to the Editor | March 28, 2021

Thomas B. Crowley, Jr.
Chairman & CEO, Crowley Maritime Corp.
Jacksonville, Fla.

We couldn’t agree more with most of Ms. O’Grady’s column. The pandemic has shown that our dependence on many items produced in China leaves us vulnerable.

“Near-shoring” production from China to Central America is a no-brainer. Central America is almost 10,000 miles closer to the U.S. market and has an excellent logistics supply chain that can cut weeks off the factory-to-retail cycle. Many apparel manufacturers have been sourcing in Central America for years. And ramping up production in Central America would provide more good-paying jobs to hard- working Central Americans. Jobs, economic growth and security are exactly what is needed to reduce migration to the north.

Yet her references to America’s domestic shipping law, the Jones Act, are not relevant since that law doesn’t apply to this international market. The Jones Act applies, however, to transportation between the mainland and Puerto Rico, which is a prime location for “on-shoring” (also from China) the production of American- made goods, including pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and other items deemed critical to our national security.

My company and others have completely overhauled the maritime logistics supply chain between Puerto Rico and the mainland. That supply chain includes clean- powered ships and helps give Puerto Rico a competitive advantage for these on- shoring production jobs. Products shipped from a Puerto Rican factory on a Tuesday can be in an Atlanta store that Friday at very low costs thanks to backhaul economics on that route.

It is time to reduce our exposure to China by bringing more production closer to home.