{"id":127106,"date":"2026-03-18T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/900260040"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:30:36","slug":"what-is-the-jones-act-trump-may-waive-shipping-law-during-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/what-is-the-jones-act-trump-may-waive-shipping-law-during-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Jones Act? Trump may waive shipping law during Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"U.S. <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What is the Jones Act?<\/h2>\n

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The backstory:<\/p>\n

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FILE – The container ship MSC ROSARIA floats on the Savannah River while arriving at the Port of Savannah on February 13, 2026 in Savannah, Georgia. (Photo by Al Drago\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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LIVE UPDATES: Iran confirms security chief killed amid launch of more strikes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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In the “interest of national defense,” the Jones Act can be waived either through the Homeland Security or Defense Department.<\/p>\n

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Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

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Eliminating foreign competition has also driven up the cost of carrying cargo domestically. U.S.-flagged ships are generally more expensive to both operate and build than foreign ones. And those costs are especially damaging to states and territories that are supplied by sea, such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

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Why does Trump want to waive the Jones Act? <\/h2>\n

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The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran have effectively stopped oil tanker movement in the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 where 20% of the world\u2019s oil passes through daily \u2013 and led major producers to cut oil production in the Middle East. Commercial ships carrying cargo like pharmaceuticals and computer chips are also stalled in the region. <\/p>\n

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By the numbers:<\/p>\n

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What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

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RELATED: <\/strong>Cruise lines hit by fuel cost surge as oil jumps on Iran tensions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Timeline:<\/p>\n

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Will it help? <\/h2>\n

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The American Maritime Partnership, the nation’s largest maritime industry trade group, said it is “deeply concerned” about the potential Jones Act waiver. <\/p>\n

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RELATED: <\/strong>Iran warns $200 oil barrels are coming: report<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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The Center for American Progress estimates that waiving the Jones Act would decrease East Coast gas prices by three cents, but potentially raise costs on the Gulf Coast. The move “would also sideline American shipbuilders and workers and allow the oil industry to continue to profit from high prices while reducing transport costs,” the research and policy think tank said Friday.<\/p>\n

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If the Jones Act is suspended, it would be one of a few steps world leaders are taking to ease rising oil prices. Last week, the Treasury Department announced it would free up Russian oil from U.S. sanctions for its war on Ukraine for a month. The U.S. also gave India temporary permission to buy Russian oil.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency pledged to release 400 million barrels of oil available from its member nations\u2019 stockpiles, the largest volume of emergency oil pulled in the organization\u2019s history. Trump said the U.S. would pull 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve<\/a> over 120 days as part of the IEA’s effort.<\/p>\n

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The Source:<\/b> This report includes information from The Associated Press. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Politics<\/a>Military<\/a><\/section>\n

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… the Middle East. Commercial ships carrying cargo<\/span> like pharmaceuticals and computer chips … . The maximum potential impact of domestic shipping<\/span> on the cost of gasoline nationwide … "would also sideline American shipbuilders<\/span> and workers and allow the oil …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}