Following the Trump administration’s decision to again extend a waiver of the Jones Act, the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank and long-time Jones Act critic, called on Congress to effectively abolish the Jones Act.
The Trump administration directed the US Department of Homeland Security to extend the existing waiver of the Jones Act to continue to allow foreign-flag, crewed, and owned vessels to transport cargoes between US ports from August 17th to November 15th.
In 2019, PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that: “In addition to the 95,470 direct jobs in the industry, the Jones Act shipping industry supported another 552,750 indirect and induced jobs in other sectors of the economy.”
AWO “Disappointed”
The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association of the American tugboat, towboat and barge industry said that it is:” deeply disappointed that the waiver has been extended when the public record over the last five months makes clear that the waiver has not been driven by military needs (the statutory standard), has not reduced the price of gasoline for US consumers, and has allowed foreign vessels, including those linked to US adversaries like China and Russia, to take work from Americans.”
The AWO statement read as follows:
“While AWO appreciates the dialogue with Administration officials that led to changes to this waiver – including the requirement that the Department of War consult with the Maritime Administration on the availability of Jones Act-qualified vessels and a narrowing of the scope of commodities covered by the waiver – we are deeply disappointed that the waiver has been extended when the public record over the last five months makes clear that the waiver has not been driven by military needs (the statutory standard), has not reduced the price of gasoline for US consumers, and has allowed foreign vessels, including those linked to US adversaries like China and Russia, to take work from Americans.”
However, the statement went on to say: “Our work is not over; it now moves into a different phase: working with the Trump Administration and Congress to ensure that any request by a foreign vessel to use the waiver is scrutinized to ensure that it meets a legitimate national defense need that cannot be met by a qualified US vessel ...”
CATO Greets Trump Administration Waiver
The Trump administration’s decision was greeted positively by the Cato Institute, the conservative think tank which has been a leading critic of the Jones Act. On August 10th, Cato’s Colin Grabow and Scott Lincicome stated: “President Trump’s decision to extend Jones Act relief for another 90 days acknowledges the burden the law has long imposed on US security and commerce, as well as the significant benefits the waiver has delivered. Since March, the waiver has unleashed domestic commerce that the Jones Act previously prevented, with more than 54 million barrels of energy products moving between US ports on 200-plus voyages (and counting). In most cases, these voyages took place on vessels with no connection to US adversaries like China and supplied American companies with American energy products that would’ve otherwise been imported at a much higher cost (if at all). These waiver shipments have exposed glaring gaps in the Jones Act fleet, including a lack of appropriate vessels to transport products such as bulk propane and asphalt, while delivering nearly 15 million barrels to the West Coast and enabling extraordinary new flows of American propane to Puerto Rico.”
The Cato Institute analysts urged that Congress take the next step to effectively abolish the Jones Act: “But the fact remains that a temporary, product-specific waiver is just a band-aid, and its economic and security benefits would be dwarfed by those resulting from a broad, long-term reform (or even repeal) of the Jones Act’s protectionist provisions. Having now seen the waiver benefits firsthand, Congress should enact durable changes to the Jones Act, which has unnecessarily burdened American businesses and individuals while presiding over the slow and steady degradation of US commercial shipbuilding and the Merchant Marine.”
AWO’S Carpenter says Jones Act Supporters Will Fight Back
Jennifer Carpenter, AWO’s President and CEO told AJOT that the US maritime industry will fight any attempt to abolish the Jones Act and take that fight into the mid-term elections this November: “I think that making the waivers permanent would be a disaster for Homeland Security, for our economy … I think that the extension of this waiver has really galvanized concern that we need to stop this ASAP, that it is problematic … I want everybody in our industry to be very clear eyed about this… We should understand that there are people out there who would like to see the Jones act go away permanently …That cannot be done without an Act of Congress. And I do not see that happening because there is strong support for that [the Jones Act] …Everybody is … energized and engaged and working this issue hard, and they should be. Everybody should be treating this as a Mayday situation, not panicking, not freaking out, but really seizing this opportunity.”
Carpenter said the Trump administration’s decision to extend the Jones Act waiver is not only galvanizing maritime labor but the threat to jobs has also motivated the Jones Act workers and employers to make sure that they are heard by House and Senate candidates running for office in the mid-term elections this November.
McCown Cites Waiver Profiteering
John McCown, maritime analyst and publisher of the McCown Report, says the Trump administration’s stated goal of instituting a waiver of the Jones Act to allow foreign flag carriers to transport petroleum products between US ports so as to reduce high gasoline prices has not succeeded: “The President's press secretary said this [Jones Act Waiver] was to relieve short term problems in the oil market. Well…the best analysis that I highlighted… concluded that the total cost savings from lower Jones Act movements of gasoline would be something like 2/100 of a cent of a gallon… So, it's not achieving the purpose.”
McCown charged that true result of the waiver has been profiteering: “Most of these voyages… involve petroleum… The other thing that they're not talking about is all of the pricing on these. Most of them are actually at or above the rates the Jones Act vessels get. In fact, some of them materially above. And the reason for that goes back to why these voyages are occurring. We had a major dislocation in the oil market (caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz) that created arbitrage opportunities. For instance, California's price went up something like $1.50 a gallon versus a nationwide average of $1.10. That led to an arbitrage situation. You have trading companies that are indifferent to how much they pay for freight. But if they can lock in something and they could pay a million dollars a day to rent a tanker, if that works out to a profit, they're going to do that. That has nothing to do with a real underlying market. So, they're not achieving the purpose they were set out to do. They are also, however, hindering initiatives that are underway and long-term goals.”
Waiver Provisions
An August 13th summary of the Jones Act waiver extension provisions provided by the law firm Holland & Knight noted the following:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended the Jones Act waiver first announced in March 2026, allowing certain qualifying goods to move between two US ports on vessels that do not qualify as US vessels under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920.
The waiver now runs for an additional 90-day period, from August 17, 2026, through November 15, 2026. Covered products must be loaded onboard before 11:59 p.m. ET on November 15, 2026, to qualify.
The list of potentially covered products has been significantly reduced – from more than 600 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes in April 2026 to 237 HTS codes in August 2026 – removing coal products, numerous chemical compounds and other commodities while retaining petroleum products, liquid natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, fertilizers and related energy commodities.
A new pre-voyage authorization process now requires trade community members to submit a "Vessel Availability Request" to the US Department of War (DOW), US Maritime Administration (MARAD) and US Customs and Border Protection before initiating any voyage on a foreign-flag vessel.
