Trump extends waiver allowing foreign ships to move goods between US ports

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump extended a waiver of a maritime law, contending that relaxing the rule had bolstered supply chains in the United States, a White House spokesperson said on Friday (Apr 24).

Trump waived the law, known as the Jones Act, in March to help ensure the flow of oil and natural gas as the war in the Middle East started cutting global energy supplies. The White House spokesperson said on social media on Friday that Trump had suspended the rule for 90 more days.

By waiving the rule, Trump is seeking to attract foreign ships to move oil and other energy products between American ports. The Jones Act states that only ships made in the United States with American crews can transport goods from one US port to another. The president can waive the law if it is necessary for national defence.

“New data compiled since the initial waiver was issued revealed that significantly more supply was able to reach US ports faster,” Taylor Rogers, a White House assistant press secretary, said on the social platform X, without providing the data.

Relaxing the Jones Act could help transport more American oil, petrol and diesel to states like California that are not served by big pipelines. A list compiled by the Maritime Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, shows that several foreign ships have visited ports in California since the waiver was put in place.

Critics of the Jones Act say its protectionist approach has driven up the cost of shipping between American ports and reduced the use of waterborne transport.

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Some economists, however, say having more foreign ships move fuel might reduce petrol prices for consumers only a negligible amount. And supporters of the Jones Act – American shipping companies and shipbuilders and mariners’ unions – say relaxing the law goes against Trump’s aim of reviving the US maritime industries.

“Waiving the Jones Act exports American jobs to foreign carriers, allows them to skirt US laws and exposes the nation to national security threats by opening our maritime borders,” Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Maritime Partnership, said in a statement. NYTIMES