Republican leadership in the House is calling on President Donald Trump to allow for the expiration of the Jones Act waiver later this summer in order to protect the U.S. maritime industry.The waiver, which has been in place since March, has permitted refiners to use foreign-flagged ships to transport fuel between U.S. ports. The Trump administration moved to leverage this waiver as part of its broader attempt to lower oil and gasoline prices that soared all spring due to supply disruptions caused by the war in Iran.For months the war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, halting roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil transit each day, about a fifth of global supply. This significant disruption in marine traffic not only caused oil and gas prices to spike, but also the cost of fertilizer and other goods.
As the United States and Iran signed another memorandum of understanding in mid-June, establishing a 60-day ceasefire and pathway to reopening the strait, Republican lawmakers have argued the emergency conditions in which the waiver was issued have since passed. More than 50 Republicans signed a letter sent to Trump this week urging him to allow the waiver to expire as scheduled on Aug. 16. The signatories included House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).The letter, made public on Wednesday, insisted the U.S.’s strongest “shield against foreign exploitation of American waterways” is the Jones Act, which mandates that goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried only by American-built ships. They argued that not only does the law support an American commercial fleet of ships, but it also supports hundreds of thousands of maritime jobs and ensures the transport of more than 760 million tons of domestic cargo annually.“At the same time, the domestic maritime industry is deeply concerned about the length, scope, and possible extension of the current Jones Act waiver, which was issued in part to address increases in fuel and fertilizer prices,” the letter said. “In practice, foreign-flagged vessels have operated under the waiver even in circumstances where U.S.-flagged vessels were available, creating understandable concern about the effect on American jobs, manufacturing, and investment.”The Republicans argued the Jones Act waiver has become a loophole for foreign countries to “erode America’s maritime dominance.”As a result, they are urging Trump to let the waiver expire next month. Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), who signed the letter, made a similar call to the executive branch during an interview with the Washington Examiner this week.“Whatever it might be, whether it’s war over the Gulf … we don’t want the first thing to happen is they veer away from American shipping. We want American ships, American sailors,” Weber said.The Texas Republican went a step further and called for the law to be reinstated as written as soon as possible.He also pointed out that some members do not believe the waiver has provided as significant an impact on staving off price hikes as they had hoped.CHRIS WRIGHT SAYS NEARLY 100 SHIPS HAVE USED JONES ACT WAIVER TO MOVE OIL “It hasn’t had as good of an impact as we would have liked to see it have,” Weber said. “That’s another reason why we’re saying, ‘Look, let’s keep American vessels in the scheme of things going on.'”As of June 25, there have been 136 voyages and 119 unique vessels that have used the Jones Act waiver, according to a tracker managed by the Cato Institute.
