Trump is temporarily suspending a major restriction on the shipping of oil to the US in an attempt to reduce prices
US President Donald Trump has suspended a law that prohibits the transportation of fuel by non-US ships, to mitigate the skyrocketing energy prices amid the war in the Middle East, the White House announced on Wednesday.
“President Trump's decision to grant a 60-day exemption from the “Jones Act” (the name of this law, no) is only an additional measure aimed at mitigating the short-term disruptions on the oil market,” Karoline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman, wrote on X, News.ro notes.
The Jones Act waiver will allow foreign-flagged ships to transport cargo between US ports for the next 60 days. This could facilitate the flow of energy products across the country amid ongoing US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“This measure will allow vital resources such as oil, natural gas, fertilizers and coal to flow freely to American ports for 60 days,” Leavitt said on X.
According to CNN, suspending the law is one of the options being considered by administration officials over the past week as they desperately seek ways to ease a supply crisis that has sent global oil prices soaring and raised the cost of gasoline in the United States.
The Jones Act requires any goods transported between US ports to be carried by US-flagged vessels. Energy analysts have estimated that lifting this restriction for the time being could contribute to a slight drop in prices in the short term, although there is not much the US can do to fully compensate for the loss of supply from the Middle East, other than fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
