Cato Trade

The Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at the @CatoInstitute | #CatoTrade, #EndTheJonesAct, and #CatoGlobalization

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

New @DOTMARAD Jones Act waiver data is out. Excluding renewable diesel, more clean product has now been moved by tanker/barge from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast in 77 days under the waiver than in the last 13 years (2013-25):

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

Sneak peek of @CatoInstitute's forthcoming Jones Act waiver tracker. 😍

[Cato Institute @CatoInstitute]

The IEEPA tariffs were illegal. Refunds are legally owed. Yet the Trump administration announced that it will appeal a court order to refund all importers the $166 billion it collected.

Cato's @AlfredCObregon says using procedural hurdles to deny importers their legally owed refunds should not be allowed.

https://t.co/bNUawv3hwe

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

New @DOTMARAD Jones Act waiver data is out. Just looking at clean products and excluding renewable diesel, more fuel has been moved from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast under the 76 days of the waiver than in the last 11 years combined.

[Cato Institute @CatoInstitute]

The Trump–Xi summit revealed a hard truth: years of US tariffs did not force China’s economic retreat. Beijing adapted by diversifying trade, expanding exports elsewhere, and exploiting US policy mistakes. Meanwhile, chaotic tariffs and the Iran war weakened Washington’s leverage while raising costs at home, explains Cato's @scottlincicome.

https://t.co/zMSXssu2Pj

[Cato Trade @CatoTrade]

The protectionist experiment has been run, and the results are in. For the sake of the economy — and their own political future — Republicans need a new trade policy. Or, more accurately, a return to their old one.

✍️ @cpgrabow... https://t.co/bju0WbGDtc

[Cato Institute @CatoInstitute]

The Jones Act makes shipping within the United States more expensive — think of it as a tax on domestic commerce, explains Cato's @cpgrabow.

Learn more about one of America's most costly protectionist laws on our YouTube channel: https://t.co/IHEZYklmlQ

[Cato Trade @CatoTrade]

The China-US summit told us a lot about the bilateral relationship and what to expect in the months ahead. Little of it is good news for the US side.

✍️ @scottlincicome... https://t.co/UK9ECCKDPc

[Cato Trade @CatoTrade]

At worst, the administration’s rationale for invoking Section 122 would transform the statute from a tool to address rare, specific circumstances to a mechanism for imposing across-the-board tariffs at any time.

✍️ @clark_packard & @AlfredCObregon... https://t.co/4932BsLrOm

[Cato Trade @CatoTrade]

If the Jones Act were anything other than a drag on the US economy, the waiver would have gone unused. Instead, in just over 50 days, it has generated 45 voyages spanning more than 30 ports.

✍️ @cpgrabow... https://t.co/RMTb5tFw6e

[Clark Packard @clark_packard]

Brand new briefing paper w/@AlfredCObregon makes the holistic economic and legal case against the Trump administration's use of Section 122 tariffs. https://t.co/xWlArtMZ5h via @CatoInstitute @CatoTrade

[Peter Laffin @petermlaffin]

READ: The GOP's protectionism detour has run its course

"The choice facing Republicans is not between being pro-America and pro-trade. It is between symbolic protectionism and actual competitiveness."

- @cpgrabow of @CatoInstitute:

https://t.co/0w0Z1LoqeI

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

New Navy shipbuilding plan references building ships in allied shipyards, but we're still supposed to believe the Jones Act's prohibition on allied-built commercial vessels operating in domestic commerce is essential to national security.

[Cato Institute @CatoInstitute]

The trade court’s ruling against President Trump’s Section 122 tariffs is a victory for the rule of law and the separation of powers, says Cato Institute’s @clark_packard.

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

Thanks to the Jones Act waiver, Americans can now send American fuel to other Americans without resorting to ridiculous and inefficient workarounds:

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

This allied shipyard can overhaul US Navy ships, but somehow allowing Americans to use vessels built in that same shipyard for domestic transportation is, according to Jones Act defenders, a national security threat.

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

"efficiently"

Tampa—>New Orleans (Jones Act shipping): $18 per ton over ~500 nautical miles, or 3.6 cents per mile.

Tampa—>Paranaguá, Brazil (international shipping): $18 per ton over ~5,100 nm, or 0.35 cents per mile.

[Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome]

New data from the Census today show that, adjusted for inflation, the 2026 US goods trade balance is essentially unchanged vs the same period in 2024. (2025 is wildly distorted bc of an import surge due to tariff front-running.)
https://t.co/f779W6FJZL

[Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome]

Another US homebuilding tariff may be incoming: The USITC just recommended global tariffs of 25%-40% on quartz countertops.

Now up to Trump to accept/reject the recommendation.

Should be an interesting test case of his "affordability" agenda! https://t.co/x6eMaYrGdT

[Colin Grabow @cpgrabow]

Americans deserve maximum choice in transportation. Eliminate airline cabotage restrictions and repeal the Jones Act.