Trump extends Jones Act waiver for 90 days
President Donald Trump has extended for 90 days a waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between US ports, but imposed new limits after shipbuilders and their allies in Congress argued the policy was undermining the domestic maritime industry, the White House said.
The extension, finalized on Monday, comes as the warwith Iran disrupts global crude flows and pushes up fuel costs, increasing pressure on the administration to find waysto ease transportation bottlenecks and keep gasoline and other energy prices from rising further.
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The 90-day extension ensures the US military and key industries maintain uninterrupted access to critical resources, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers saidon Monday.
"Data shows the waiver has driven a significant increase in domestic deliveries of essential products such as gasoline, diesel, andjet fuel," Rogers said in a post on the social media platform X.
Under the new terms, the administration has narrowed the scope of the relief, requiring individual voyages to undergo case-by-case review rather than allowing foreign ships to receive blanket exemptions from the Jones Act, a White Houseofficial confirmed.