Tag: cargo ships

China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act

Ms. Cat

Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.

Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.

Rumble

Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).

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More Disregard for International Law: Moscow Hits Out at US-UK Attack on Yemen

Ms. Cat
Maria Zakharova

MOSCOW – Strikes by the US and the UK on Yemen are another example of the distortion of UN Security Council resolutions and complete disregard for international law in the name of escalation in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

More Disregard for International Law: Moscow Hits Out at US-UK Attack on Yemen

It’s also disregard for US law.

House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China

Ms. Cat

The House of Representatives is discussing a move that would effectively amount to an act of war if carried out: a naval blockade on China.

House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China

The following is outdated, especially considering the problems with the US Navy’s LCS ships, but I thought that the bold quote was interesting. I highly doubt that Russia would ever submit to the US!

Related:

[2013] Stranglehold: The Context, Conduct and Consequences of an American Naval Blockade of China

In short, Russia would not only be China’s best hope of overcoming an American blockade, but it would also be the United States’ key to closing China’s transit route through Central Asia and preventing China’s two neighboring oil producers from supplying it with petroleum. In an American blockade of China, Russia’s importance as a swing state cannot be overstated, as is borne out by the observation that “no blockade of China in history has succeeded without Russian acquiescence.”

Revealed: Mercer Street’s Parent Shipping Company a Front for Israeli Intelligence

Ms. Cat

By Alan Macleod GULF OF OMAN — Earlier this summer, the Israeli-operated oil tanker Mercer Street was attacked by drones, allegedly emanating from Iran, disabling the ship and killing two people on board. The incident, portrayed as an unprovoked attack on a civilian vessel, caused worldwide outrage, and marked a new low in Iranian relations with Israel and its Western allies. But a MintPress investigation can now reveal that Zodiac Maritime, the Mercer Street’s operator, has a long history of working closely with both the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli intelligence unit Mossad, using its ships to ferry arms and operatives around the region for covert operations, including assassinations.

Revealed: Mercer Street’s Parent Shipping Company a Front for Israeli Intelligence