Trump grants 90-day Jones Act waiver extension to curb energy costs

President Donald Trump granted a 90-day extension to a shipping waiver that makes it easier to move oil, fuel and fertilizer around the United States, the White House said on Friday, the latest effort to curb rising energy costs linked to the war with Iran.

The move reflects a broader push by the White House to dampen politically sensitive fuel price spikes ahead of November’s midterm elections, where affordability is expected to be a defining issue for voters. Recent polling shows Trump and Republicans losing ground on the economy — once a core political strength — with approval of his economic handling falling sharply and rising gasoline prices weighing heavily on public sentiment.

The decision adds roughly three months to the existing waiver that was set to expire on May 17, enabling foreign-flagged vessels to move commodities between U.S. ports through mid-August.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers confirmed on Friday that Trump had issued the extension.

"This waiver extension provides both certainty and stability for the U.S. and global economies," Rogers said.

The administration is taking the step of extending the waiver three weeks before its expiration to allow ample time for the maritime industry to ensure sufficient vessels are available to keep moving applicable goods to where they are needed, a White House official said.

The Jones Act has long been a flashpoint between competing economic and national security priorities. Supporters, including U.S. shipbuilders, maritime unions and some lawmakers, argue the law is critical to maintaining a domestic shipping industry and merchant marine that can support military logistics and national security.

But critics — including energy producers, refiners and agricultural groups — say the requirement to use U.S.-built and -crewed vessels sharply raises shipping costs and limits capacity, particularly during disruptions, driving up prices for fuel and other goods.

“This extension of an already historically long and ineffective Jones Act waiver is not only an affront to hundreds of thousands of hardworking Americans who put this country first every single day, it sabotages President Trump’s agenda to restore American maritime dominance,” said Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Maritime Partnership.

The action is one of several steps Trump has taken to blunt elevated fuel prices and address growing supply concerns, as the U.S.- and Israeli-led war against Iran has triggered a global energy shock.

Trump has said crude and gasoline prices are likely to fall once the Iran conflict subsides, but analysts caution that costs could remain elevated even after hostilities end, as supply disruptions, higher shipping costs and a lingering geopolitical risk premium continue to ripple through global energy markets.

-Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Editing by William Maclean, Tomasz Janowski and Andrea Ricci/Reuters