Has there ever been something like the Jones act, that has worked? In any western democracy? Honest question. I wonder if the nature of international commerce and large nation domestic policy is too complex and chaotic.
Smoot-Hawley and the Buy American Act, which protected/enabled the Arsenal of Democracy to win the Second World War. Europe's Common Agricultural Policy. Voluntary Export Restraints. Steel and aluminum tariffs. Tech/IP restrictions from the U.S./EU on communist Chinese firms.
Smoot-Hawley was passed while America was a net exporter of industrial products and hurt American manufacturers. I don't see any way to skew it as having helped win WW2.
Honestly dunno if anyone does anything similar to the Jones Act. Certainly not in shipping (though a lot of countries require domestic flagging, not built).
Outside of shipping idk what the analogous situation would be
So far the only effective method has been to purchase a fixed amount of the final desired product regardless of actual demand.