More than Just a flag (Jones Act & Cabotage)

[TimothyC]

The issue is not US law, it's US monopoly. It clashes with multiple free trade pacts signed by USA, the country just gets away with it because no one dares to challenge that particular clause.

Technically, the US built provision no longer includes the terms that Jones Act construction must be used if there is a US port within a set distance of the start point and the destination is in the US. For example, in the immediate post-WW2 period, with the Panama canal being a US port, most of the fruit ships were required to be Jones-Act compliant as the cargo originate within the specified distance of the Panama canal. The other option was to ship them to the Canal Zone, then transfer them to US ports on Jones Act ships - it was cheaper to just use Jones Act ships for the entire trip. With this provision removed, and the Canal Zone not a US port anymore, the fruit ships on non-Jones Act ships.

Also, if brought to court over the Jones Act, the US would simply point to the security exemption in the GATT treaty (Article 21)

Russia currently ordered 2 light carrier hulls in France. China and India operate Russian built carriers. Australia ordered 2 light carrier hulls from Spain. Wise/practical decisions might mean different things elsewhere.

"Light Carriers." That's funny. I presume you are referring to the Mistals? They are amphibious assault ships, not carriers (note the lack of ability to take fixed-wing aviation). This is not to say that the French don't have the ability to build carriers - they do. The Australian/Spanish ships do have the ability to operate fixed-wing aviation, but they are only roughly equivalent of the US LHDs, not a CV.

OK, modular building for submarines is something I was genuinely not familiar with. On the other hand, submarines are a specialty item and the methods of building them are different from those for most other ships.

Modular shipbuilding is how most ships are built these days, but as you note the construction of an SSN/SSBN is something special, and results from the need to build the reactor section.

[Eternal_Freedom]

OK, modular building for submarines is something I was genuinely not familiar with. On the other hand, submarines are a specialty item and the methods of building them are different from those for most other ships.

Modular shipbuilding is how most ships are built these days, but as you note the construction of an SSN/SSBN is something special, and results from the need to build the reactor section.

It's how we Brits built the Type 45 destroyers, and how we're building the new Queen Elizabeth carriers. It sounds like a sensible idea from a government POV, allowing you to award contracts to multiple yards and avoid being said to play favorites.