Reply #8: But It's Costly [View All]

Those 4 votes may come in handy for you, but the people of Hawaii pay for it.

There is a little known law called the Jones Act, this law requires that vessels used to transport cargo and passengers bewtween US ports be owned by US citizens, built in US shipyards, and manned by US citizen crews.

So a ship bringing in cargo from Canada or China cannot transport cargo directly to Hawaii, that ship must first enter a US port, in
Hawaii's case the West Coast, and have its cargo loaded onto a US vessel. That ship can then take the cargo to Hawaii, so instead of a straight shot to Honolulu, which would cost less in transport, this legal detour raises the price of anything coming into Hawaii.

Now you must also take into consideration that there are only two US shipping lines that serve Hawaii, and they do not really compete with each other, because they know that the people of Hawaii don't have any other options.

The next time you buy a small box of Corn Flakes for $7.00, in Alabama, let us know.