The big cruise ship lines were shut out of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue


A provision in the Senate's $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package, inserted late in the negotiations, restricts participation in a $500 billion loan program to corporations "that are created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States and that have significant operations in and a majority of its employees based in the United States." That excludes most of the cruise ship industry, hit especially hard by the coronavirus outbreak, The Wall Street Journal reports.
None of the major cruise ship lines is registered in the U.S. — Carnival is incorporated in Panama, Royal Caribbean in Liberia, Norwegian Cruise Line in Bermuda, and privately held MSC Cruises in Switzerland. "The companies don't pay U.S. federal income taxes, and most of their cleaning staff, restaurant servers, bartenders, and other employees are foreign nationals," the Journal reports. "Even the individual ships are typically owned by foreign LLCs and domiciled in low-tax countries such as the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Dominican Republic."
President Trump, who had promised that the cruise ship industry would be covered by the rescue package, said Thursday that he would like to help the cruise lines but conceded it would be "very tough to make a loan to company when they're based in a different country." He added that "we're going to work very hard on the cruise line business and we're going to figure something out."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cruise ships do pay state taxes and port fees, and the Cruise Lines International Association lobbying group said the industry contributed $53 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018 and supported 421,000 U.S. jobs. Cruise ships have also been linked to large outbreaks of disease, including more than 800 of the world's COVID-19 infections.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Crossword: September 13, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 13, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year