Reaction throughout the United States maritime community was tempered yet direct after President Donald Trump opted to extend the already-historically long waiver of the Jones Act to an additional 90 days earlier this week.
Leaders from the commercial shipping, shipbuilding and maritime labor communities responded to the news with a similar message: continuing to waive the Jones Act is unnecessary and dangerous for the future of the U.S. Merchant Marine.
The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, issued the following statement today in reaction to the White House’s announcement to extend the Jones Act waiver another 90 days from August 17.
“President Trump’s decision to require a case-by-case review before allowing foreign vessels to carry domestic maritime commerce is an improvement over the previous blanket Jones Act waiver, which took work from American mariners and shipbuilders and froze investment in the maritime industrial base. However, we are disappointed that the waiver has been extended when the public record is clear: the waiver has not lowered fuel prices for American consumers and has been used to increase oil traders’ margins, not meet military needs. AMP urges the Trump Administration to conduct a rigorous review of the national defense justification for each and every waiver request and to carefully assess the availability of U.S. vessels before allowing a foreign vessel to move cargo between U.S. ports. AMP also underscores the importance of ensuring that any foreign vessel granted a waiver to meet a genuine national defense need for which a U.S. vessel is not available complies fully with all other applicable U.S. law, including tax, immigration, labor, etc. This is essential to putting American workers and taxpayers first,” said AMP President Jennifer Carpenter.
Despite pressure from the maritime community and members of Congress, Trump granted the 90-day extension allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between U.S. ports.
The White House claims the extension, finalized on Monday, is part of a strategy to keep gas prices down as the war with Iran rages and use of the Straits of Hormuz to get oil out of the region continues to be stained.
But recent studies have concluded transportation costs amount to less than a penny of prices at the pump, so using foreign flagged vessels provide little relief to motorists. But weakening the Jones Act could do irreparable harm the domestic maritime industry, experts said.
“Broad Jones Act waivers stifle the long-term capital investments essential to our commercial shipbuilding markets, maritime fleet, and domestic supply chains,” said Matthew Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America. “As the U.S. shipyard industrial base works alongside the Trump Administration to spark a generational revitalization of our maritime sector, any future waivers during this 90-day period must be strictly justified on a national security basis to safeguard this historic progress.”
More than 200 foreign-flagged voyages under the waiver have occurred in U.S. waters, taking away valuable opportunities for U.S. mariners.
“What the waiver has accomplished is the transfer of American jobs and domestic cargoes to foreign ships employing low-wage crews operating under Flags of Convenience. It has also created a windfall for refiners, oil traders, and foreign vessel operators, while sidelining American mariners and U.S.-flag vessels that stand ready and able to perform this work,” wrote Seafarers international Union President David Heindel in a letter asking Trump to end the waiver.
“The Jones Act is not an obstacle to affordable energy. It is a cornerstone of our nation’s economic and national security. It’s time to end the waiver and put American workers first.”