90‑day Jones Act waiver

President Donald Trump extended a Jones Act waiver for 90 days on April 24, keeping foreign-flagged ships in the U.S. domestic fuel trade through mid-August. (reuters.com) (cbsnews.com) The Jones Act normally requires cargo moved between U.S. ports to travel on ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed. Trump first waived those rules for 60 days on March 18 as the war with Iran disrupted oil shipping and pushed energy costs higher. (cbsnews.com) (reuters.com) The new extension takes effect at 12 a.m. Eastern on May 18, when the original waiver was due to expire. White House press secretary Taylor Rogers said the administration moved early so carriers would have time to line up vessels. (cbsnews.com) (reuters.com) The White House said more than 40 tankers have used, or are expected to use, the waiver. It also said the policy has helped move more than 9 million barrels of U.S. oil to domestic ports and increased available shipping capacity by more than 70%. (cbsnews.com) That matters most for places with thin shipping options, especially Hawaiʻi, where Representative Ed Case said more than 90% of goods arrive by ship. Case urged Trump on April 22 to avoid a lapse, saying the state lacks enough Jones Act-qualified vessels to guarantee fuel deliveries during the current disruption. (case.house.gov) The fight over the waiver is also a fight over what the Jones Act is for. Supporters say the law protects a U.S. merchant fleet and shipbuilding base that the military can rely on in a crisis. (reuters.com) (marinelog.com) Critics of the law, including energy and farm groups, say the U.S.-only requirement raises freight costs and limits capacity when markets seize up. Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute told CBS News that waiving the law simply puts more ships into the market. (reuters.com) (cbsnews.com) U.S. maritime groups answered that the extension helps foreign carriers more than U.S. consumers. Jennifer Carpenter of the American Maritime Partnership called it an attack on American maritime jobs, and the American Offshore Maritime Association said gasoline prices have still risen since the first waiver. (reuters.com) (cbsnews.com) (marinelog.com) Reuters reported the White House is also trying to contain politically damaging fuel-price spikes before the November midterm elections. The waiver does not change world crude prices, but it does give refiners, traders and import-dependent states more shipping flexibility inside the United States. (reuters.com) (case.house.gov) For now, the administration is betting that extra shipping capacity is worth the backlash from the domestic maritime industry. The next test is whether that added capacity shows up in fuel deliveries and prices before the waiver runs out in mid-August. (reuters.com) (cbsnews.com)