March 18 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump issued a 60-day temporary waiver of the 106-year-old maritime law known as the Jones Act to battle rising gas prices as a side effect of the war in Iran, the White House announced Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the waiver will increase the flow of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and coal into U.S. ports.
"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," she said in a statement on X.
The Jones Act requires that cargo traveling between U.S. ports be flagged in the United States, be at least 75% owned by U.S. citizens and be at least 75% crewed by U.S. citizens. The act, passed in 1920, was established to grow domestic shipping in the wake of World War I.
The Trump administration said last week it was considering temporarily waiving the rules to allow foreign-owned and -operated oil and fuel tankers to move between ports in an effort to limit rising gas prices across the country.
