US President Donald Trump has announced a temporary 60-day suspension of the Jones Act, the century-old law that mandates cargo moving between domestic ports be transported on vessels built, operated and staffed by American citizens or permanent residents.
The move comes in response to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a key chokepoint – amid the escalating US-Israeli war against Iran, which has triggered the most severe global oil supply disruption in recent history.
The waiver allows foreign-flagged tankers sitting idle in international waters to start transporting energy products between US ports immediately.
“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 US military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
She added that the action “will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertiliser and coal to flow freely to US ports for 60 days, and the administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains.”
The US and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran on February 28. The conflict has led to attacks on oil infrastructure and the de facto closure of the vital shipping route, further straining global energy flows.
Iran’s new Supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said last week the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should remain a “tool to pressure the enemy”, in his first public remarks since taking office.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS on Sunday that Tehran had been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage. He said some vessels from “different countries” had been allowed through, without elaborating.
This has driven crude prices well above $100 per barrel at times, sharply elevating US petrol and energy costs while straining domestic distribution networks.
Trump is facing mounting pressure to rein in fuel costs, a key driver of how Americans judge inflation and the health of the economy. The rise in oil prices could hurt Trump and the Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The US president has repeatedly urged allies including Britain, Japan, France and even China to deploy warships to aid efforts to reopen the waterway, but the proposal has gained little traction, fuelling his frustration.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, wrote on X Tuesday that he had spoken to Trump about allies not stepping up and had “never heard him so angry in my life”.
The Jones Act, passed in 1920 after World War I, aimed to strengthen the US maritime industry, protect American shipping jobs and ensure a reliable fleet for national security and commerce.
Supporters, including some industry groups, contend the move could quickly ease supply bottlenecks and lower prices by allowing more foreign vessels. Critics, including major maritime unions, have argued it will do little to cut fuel costs and could undermine US shipping jobs and long-term national security.
“Waiving the Jones Act would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices. In fact, the primary driver of gasoline prices is the cost of crude oil, not domestic shipping costs,” said a joint letter by major American maritime trade unions, including the American Maritime Officers, to Trump last week.
“A Jones Act waiver would create opportunities for foreign-flag operators” that avoid US taxes, rely on “low-wage labour” and operate under weaker regulations, undermining American economic and national security interests, the letter added.
According to Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute, a think tank in Washington, the Jones Act “constrains transportation options and raises costs”, and despite being routinely defended the law “portrayed as indispensable to national security suddenly becomes optional when pressures mount”.
“By opening domestic routes to internationally flagged shipping, relief from the Jones Act would vastly increase the supply of vessels available to move American crude oil and refined products to US ports,” he wrote in an opinion published by Cato this month.
“That, in turn, would unlock new and more efficient supply chains”, he added. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
