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White House Extends Jones Act Waiver Into 2027

Through February, energy traders have the option to employ foreign ships in the U.S. transportation system (iStock)
Through February, energy companies can choose between American and foreign tankers for shipments within the United States (iStock)

By The Maritime Executive 2026-11-13 16:13:00

On Friday, President Donald Trump decided to extend the long-running waiver of the Jones Act to allow foreign-crewed tankers to keep carrying energy products in U.S. domestic trade, according to Bloomberg. The renewal provides more transport options for U.S. energy traders and petroleum companies - but American domestic shipping interests say that the policy damages the health of the maritime industrial base, while doing little to help consumers with high gas and diesel prices. 

The extension takes effect Monday, a White House official told Bloomberg. It will push the waiver period's validity out through at least mid-February, with the possibility of further extensions.

Measured by historical standards, it is an exceptionally broad use of the presidential waiver authority, both in time and in scope. The White House says that foreign-crewed, foreign-owned ships have moved about 90 million barrels of petroleum between U.S. ports since the start of the waiver period. Opponents of the waiver say that because none of the shipments are linked to operational national security needs, as is required by law, the program exceeds the White House's capabilities.  

The frequency of shipments has fallen since the latest renewal, as the terms have tightened: the Maritime Administration now must pre-review each shipment to assess whether Jones Act-qualified vessels are available before a foreign-flagged ship may carry out the voyage. That procedural step remains in place for this renewal cycle, and no additional restrictions have been added, according to Bloomberg.  

"We urge the administration to continue scrutinizing all waiver requests under the case-by-case process to ensure that any approved waivers meet the statutory standard of military necessity and are not used to displace American vessels and American workers for routine commercial moves," said the American Maritime Partnership in a statement. "As both the Administration and Congress have made clear, a Jones Act waiver does not relieve users of the responsibility to comply with applicable U.S. laws, including tax, immigration and employment standards."