Press Releases

The bipartisan leadership of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee raised significant concerns about European Union efforts to undermine the Jones Act, a law important to the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry, the stability of the U.S. supply chain, and America’s national and economic security.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA), Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mike Ezell (R-MS), and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Ranking Member Salud Carbajal (D-CA) expressed their concerns in a letter to E.U. Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupšienė.

“The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Committee) has serious concerns regarding the recent Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing on behalf of the European Union (E.U.), which describes E.U. efforts to lobby United States lawmakers and policy officials in an effort to secure modifications to the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 55102), an important American national and economic security law.”

The Committee leaders noted that the FARA filing was required by the E.U.’s financing of a U.S. firm to create “one or two funny but informative” TikTok-like videos to criticize the Jones Act.  The filing described the videos as part of a larger E.U. lobbying and public relations campaign to challenge the Jones Act.  However, it appears that the E.U. lobbying document was removed from the FARA filing shortly after its existence was publicly disclosed.

The letter states, “the activities described in the attached lobbying campaign document go far beyond trade negotiations. Rather it appears, that the E.U. is seeking to influence United States policy on the Jones Act not through diplomatic means, but instead through an advocacy campaign, including collaboration with previously undisclosed United States organizations and social media influencers.”

The Committee and Subcommittee leaders urged the E.U. to halt its efforts to bypass traditional diplomatic channels and undermine American public trust in Federal law and policy.

The Jones Act underpins the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry and requires any vessel participating in coastwise trade to be United States-owned, United States-crewed, and United States-built. Jones Act-driven business supports domestic shipbuilding capacity and prevents the nation from losing an important strategic capability.

Click here to read the full letter and FARA filing.