The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s move to extend its waiver of the Jones Act another 90 days. American Maritime Officers Service is a member of AMP and American Maritime Officers supports the coalition.
“This extension of an already historically long and ineffective Jones Act waiver is not only an affront to hundreds of thousands of hardworking Americans who put this country first every single day, it sabotages President Trump’s agenda to restore American maritime dominance,” said Jennifer Carpenter, President of the American Maritime Partnership. “Waiving the Jones Act exports American jobs to foreign carriers, allows them to skirt U.S. laws, and exposes the nation to national security threats by opening our maritime borders.”
Waiving domestic shipping laws cannot change the price of crude oil on world markets – the primary driver of what Americans pay at the pump. The Jones Act’s estimated impact is just one-tenth of a cent per gallon – a negligible share compared to taxes and refining costs.
According to White House data shared with Axios, over 9 million barrels of fuel have been shipped under the current waiver. The Administration has not disclosed what kinds of fuel this number includes. In 2023, the United States consumed an average of about 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day, meaning waiver shipments represent only about 10 hours’ worth of fuel use over the entire country.
Jones Act vessels move petroleum products between U.S. ports, providing a reliable, American-controlled supply route that is insulated from foreign chokepoints. The U.S.-flagged fleet includes more than 45,000 container ships, freighters, tankers, articulated tug barges, offshore supply vessels, dredges, tugboats and barges. Over 4,000 of these vessels are tankers and tank barges used to deliver fuel to Americans.