US commerce secretary nominee Wilbur L Ross expressed general support for the Jones Act under questioning at his nomination hearing before a Senate committee today.
The billionaire investor was asked directly by Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington whether he supports the cabotage shipping law.
“The Jones Act is a fact,” Ross said. “I’ve been living with it. I’ve never voiced any opposition to it.”
Ross also explained to lawmakers that tankers under his ownership — whether at Connecticut’s Diamond S Shipping or New York-listed gas player Navigator Holdings — trade internationally and do not fall under the Jones Act.
“It’s just not relevant to what we’re doing,” he said.
However, Ross volunteered that he found the cabotage regime supportive to US shipbuilding.
“The Jones Act has been useful in continuing US shipbuilding,” Ross said. “I think without the Jones Act you’d have even less US shipbuilding than you have now.”
Cantwell also grilled Ross on his decision to retain economic interest in some of his shipping holdings, including Diamond S and other vessels owned through a number of funds. She raised the specter of potential environmental problems — even invoking the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
Ross said he’d been advised that a shipping case had never come before the commerce department.
He also expressed confidence that his fleet is environmentally “up to snuff” and “as good as they can be environmentally.”
However, should conflict issues arise, “I intend to be quite scrupulous on recusal in any area where there’s a scintilla of doubt,” he said.
