I’m really talking about ships rather than boats. And I’m having trouble recalling more than a handful of companies that have built ships in US yards within the last decade.
But if you think we have enough Jones act tonnage now, sunset the US-build requirements ten years from now.
As for protectionism, I think that with the near-death of deep sea shipping under the American flag, Jones Act is clearly not serving either the mariner or the yard birds.