President Donald Trump extended a waiver of the Jones Act for 90 days, letting foreign-flagged ships carry oil and other commodities between US ports. The waiver is the longest in the law's history, and it aims to lower fuel and fertilizer prices pushed up by the war on Iran.
President Donald Trump extended for 90 days a waiver of a shipping law that lets foreign-flagged ships move oil and other commodities between US ports, a White House official said on Friday. Reuters reported on Thursday that industry sources said the administration would extend the waiver on the more than 100-year-old Jones Act.
The administration issued a blanket waiver in March, a month after the US launched the war on Iran, to lower oil and fuel prices. In August, it extended the waiver but required decisions on a case-by-case basis, and the latest waiver continues that stipulation. It is the longest waiver in the history of the shipping law.
The Jones Act requires cargo moving between US ports to travel on ships built in the US, owned by US companies and crewed by American workers. Allowing the waiver aims to lower gas, diesel and fertilizer prices driven up by the war by increasing shipping flexibility and reducing transport bottlenecks. Past waivers ran shorter because the domestic shipbuilding business, a powerful lobby, supports the law.
Since the waiver took effect in March, the White House said, an additional 90 million barrels of petroleum, primarily refined products, have moved between US ports. That total includes 27 million barrels of gasoline, 26 million barrels of crude oil and 6 million barrels of renewable fuels.
Sources: Reuters via Investing.com, Investing.com
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