What the law actually says about shipping to Puerto Rico, and what it doesn't.
The Jones Act only controls cargo moving between two U.S. ports. A ship bringing goods to San Juan from Spain, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, or anywhere else outside the United States can fly any country's flag, and it does not have to stop at a U.S. port first.
See the ships in San Juan right now →of the cargo ships calling on Puerto Rico fly foreign flags. Even the U.S. shipping industry's own lobby says about two-thirds of ships serving the island are foreign.
of Puerto Rico's imports by value come from outside the United States, depending on the year and source.
The Jones Act is a 1920 federal law about shipping within the United States. It is Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, found today at 46 U.S.C. § 55102.
The rule is simple: cargo carried by ship from one U.S. port to another must travel on a U.S. ship. It does not cover cargo coming from other countries.
A stop at a foreign port along the way doesn't change that. Cargo loaded in Jacksonville and unloaded in San Juan is a domestic shipment, even if the ship stops in the Dominican Republic.
All 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam. It does not apply to the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or (with limits) the Northern Mariana Islands. (46 U.S.C. § 55101)
Yes, for national defense, usually only when no U.S. ship is available. It has been waived for Puerto Rico after major hurricanes.
These claims circulate widely on social media. Here is what the law and the evidence actually say.
Myth: “A ship can't deliver cargo to Puerto Rico unless it's a U.S.-registered vessel.”
Myth: “Everything shipped to Puerto Rico has to go through a U.S. mainland port first, like Jacksonville or Miami.”
See for yourself: next time you're in a Puerto Rico supermarket, check the country-of-origin labels in the produce section. Plantains, yuca, root vegetables, and fruit commonly come from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, and elsewhere in Latin America. Much of it arrives directly on ships from those countries, which is part of why many of these items are so affordable.
Myth: “A foreign ship can't stop in Puerto Rico and then continue on to Florida.”
Myth: “The Jones Act was written to punish Puerto Rico. It only applies to Puerto Rico.”
Myth: “The Jones Act can never be waived.”
Myth: “The Jones Act controls cruise ships and tourists.”
Myth: “The Jones Act is the reason everything in Puerto Rico is expensive. (Or: the Jones Act has no effect on prices at all.)”
The official Cost of Living Index (C2ER, published in Puerto Rico by the Instituto de Estadísticas) compares about 300 U.S. urban areas. 100 is the U.S. average.
| Area | Index | |
|---|---|---|
| San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas: overall | ≈102 | about 2% above the U.S. average |
| San Juan area: groceries | ≈113 | about 13% above |
| San Juan area: utilities (mostly electricity) | ≈153 | among the highest in the U.S. |
| San Juan area: health care | ≈70 | the lowest of all areas measured |
| Anchorage, Alaska: overall | ≈128 | about 28% above |
| Honolulu, Hawaii: overall | ≈185 | about 85% above |
San Juan figures: Q1 2024, Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico. Anchorage and Honolulu: C2ER 2026 data as reported by Kiplinger. Groceries cost noticeably more than the U.S. average, as on most islands, but overall living costs in the San Juan area are close to average and far below Hawaii and Alaska. The index does not say how much of any gap is due to the Jones Act.
This live map shows cargo ships and tankers near the Port of San Juan using their AIS transponder signals. Click any ship to see its name and the flag it sails under. On most days, many of them are foreign-flagged.
Map provided by MarineTraffic. Positions may be delayed by a few minutes. Open the full live map →
| Month | U.S.-flagged | Foreign-flagged | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 114 | 154 |
| Feb | 38 | 109 | 147 |
| Mar | 38 | 107 | 145 |
| Apr | 37 | 121 | 158 |
| May | 43 | 116 | 159 |
| Jun | 39 | 123 | 162 |
| Jul | 41 | 111 | 152 |
| Aug | 41 | 115 | 156 |
| Sep | 36 | 101 | 137 |
| Oct | 40 | 110 | 150 |
| Nov | 41 | 112 | 153 |
| Dec | 45 | 119 | 164 |
| Total | 479 | 1,358 | 1,837 |
Method: cargo ships and tankers that entered San Juan Bay during 2025, counted from NOAA nationwide AIS data. The flag is taken from each ship's MMSI radio identifier. A ship that visits several times is counted once per visit. Ocean-going tugs are included because many U.S. ships serving Puerto Rico are barges pulled by a tug, and barges carry no tracking transponder of their own; local harbor tugs, fishing boats, yachts, and passenger ships are excluded.
Each dot is a place where cargo ships and tankers sat moored in San Juan Bay during 2025. Red dots are foreign-flagged ships and blue dots are U.S.-flagged ships. Bigger dots mean more ship-days at that spot.
Based on the same NOAA AIS data as the chart above. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
This is a non-partisan website created by an individual, not by any shipping company, union, political party, or advocacy group. I built it after becoming frustrated by the amount of misinformation about the Jones Act that spreads on social media, especially in Puerto Rico.
The goal is simple: to explain what the law actually says, and what it doesn't. Reasonable people disagree about whether the Jones Act is good policy, and this site doesn't tell you what to think about that. It just aims to make sure the debate starts from the facts.
Every claim here links to its source, and government and primary sources are used wherever possible.
