Is It ‘Treason’ To Support Free Trade?

At least one member of a federal advisory panel thinks it’s “treason” to oppose a law that protects the domestic shipping industry from foreign competition, even though the result of that law is higher prices for American consumers.

Documents that the Cato Institute obtained from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) through the Freedom of Information Act in October included a March 2019 set of recommendations from the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee, which includes industry and union representatives. Among other things, the document suggested that the government “charge all past and present members of the Cato and Mercatus Institutes [sic] with treason.” Their crime: opposing continued enforcement of the Jones Act, a.k.a. the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which requires that ships transporting cargo between U.S. ports be made, owned, and crewed by Americans.

For years, the Cato Instit