Is anyone really going to move coal by barge via the Mississippi on a foreign flagged vessel if the Jones act didn’t exist? And if so, how could that be cheaper unless they were cutting scary amounts of corners no sane person would want them to cut?
I think the issue is more that you can’t ship between Florida and New York either with a foreign ship.
This prevents someone from say dropping off all their goods in Miami, then letting a British liner pick them up later and drop half off in NYC, and the other half in London.
Instead you have to either ship it yourself to NYC and Miami, or you have to send it by train to NYC from Miami.
