White House considers waiving maritime commerce restrictions as fuel prices skyrocket

The White House is considering waiving a century-old law that promotes the use of American vessels in maritime commerce, as the Trump administration faces rising fuel prices amid the ongoing war in Iran.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the administration may waive the Jones Act, a 1920 statute that requires cargo being moved by water between U.S. ports to be shipped on vessels that are built, owned and registered in the U.S.

“In the interest of national defense, the White House is considering waiving the Jones Act for a limited period of time to ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to U.S. ports,” Leavitt said. “This action has not been finalized.”

The development, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, comes as the White House faces growing political pressure over rising gas and oil prices, with Iran moving to choke off traffic in the critical Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S. and Israel’s ongoing war with the country.

It also comes a day after the Trump administration announced it would release 172 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, joining more than two dozen member countries in the International Energy Agency’s biggest emergency oil release in history.

The war has triggered the largest supply disruption in global oil market history, according to a Thursday report from the IEA, sending crude oil prices soaring to over $100 a barrel before later retreating.

The Homeland Security secretary and the Defense secretary can request a waiver in specific circumstances that are in the “interest of national defense.” The federal government has in the past chosen to freeze the law in extreme circumstances that led to substantial supply disruptions, including Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly said the rise in fuel prices is a small price to pay for the success of the war, with Leavitt saying Sunday the spike is “a short-term disruption for a long-term gain” during an interview on Fox News.

The administration believes it can withstand the political pressure from a surge in prices for as long as a month, POLITICO previously reported.

Suspending the Jones Act, however, could anger American-based shipbuilding and shipping interests.

Since the White House is signaling the waiver will be temporary, the move, however, would likely not have a significant impact on the U.S.’s relatively small shipbuilding industry, but a waiver “would probably have a small but useful impact on prices,” said Peter Harrell, who served as the White House’s senior director for international economics under the Biden administration.

Iran has warned that the war could send oil prices as high as $200 a barrel if the war rages on, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that was “unlikely” in a Thursday interview on CNN.

Ari Hawkins contributed to this report.