US President Donald Trump temporarily waived a century-old shipping mandate to lower the cost of transporting oil, gas and other commodities around the US, marking his latest bid to combat the rise in energy prices spurred by his war in Iran, Bloomberg reported.
The president on Wednesday authorized foreign-flagged vessels to transport a range of commodities between US ports for the next 60 days. The short-term waiver of the Jones Act — a 1920 law designed to promote US shipbuilding — has been cast by the Trump administration as a way to ease the shipment of energy products vital to national security and prevent shortfalls that could disrupt military operations.
“President Trump’s decision to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The Administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains.”
The Jones Act mandates that cargo carried between US ports must be transported on US-flagged, -built and -owned ships. The waiver exempts those requirements for some cargoes, allowing foreign vessels to temporarily ship several products. That includes coal, crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, natural gas liquids, fertilizer, anything using refined petroleum products as a primary feedstock and other energy derivatives, according to White House officials who asked for anonymity because details of the authorization were not yet public.
Waiving Jones Act restrictions could reduce pressure on prices by allowing lower-cost foreign tankers to move around the country. The action is poised to cut the price of shipping crude from the Gulf to refiners on the US East Coast and gasoline and diesel products to populated markets in the US Northeast.
Waiving the Jones Act could save East Coast motorists roughly 10 cents a gallon, according to a 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimate.
