WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is set to extend a waiver of the Jones Act, the 1920 law that normally bars foreign ships from carrying goods between American ports, industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. It could come as early as Thursday, with a tighter rule attached: each foreign voyage would need its own case by case review, instead of blanket permission. The waiver expires on Sunday, November 15. A White House official told Reuters no decision has yet been made and any announcement will come from Trump or his administration. As of Thursday evening, no formal announcement had been published.
What the Jones Act is
The Jones Act is the shipping part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. In plain terms, goods moved by water between U.S. ports must travel on ships built in the United States, owned by American companies, flagged in the United States and crewed mostly by Americans. Supporters say it keeps an American fleet and shipyards ready for an emergency; critics say it raises shipping costs inside the country. Homeland Security can set it aside in the interest of national defense, the power used in March.
Why the waiver has run for eight months
Homeland Security issued it on March 17, 2026, at the Department of War's request, after the war with Iran scrambled energy markets and the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed. With fuel prices jumping, the administration said foreign tankers moving Gulf Coast fuel to both coasts would ease shortages. The first waiver ran 60 days and covered more than 600 product categories; it was extended for 90 days in May and again in August, making it, at about 250 days, the longest in the law's history. The August round narrowed it to about 228 categories and required shippers to ask first whether an American ship could do the job.
The results have been modest. Administration data cited by Reuters show about 300 waivers granted under the broad March and May versions and about 48 under the narrower August rules, and analysts told Reuters the extra tankers would likely trim pump prices by only pennies a gallon. The American Action Forum put the freight savings at about $100 million across the waiver's run, roughly 6.6 cents a gallon on Gulf Coast to West Coast shipments and 1.5 to 2 cents to the East Coast. Pump prices remain far above prewar levels: AAA put gasoline at about $3.91 a gallon on Thursday, against $2.98 before the war, and diesel at $6.10, against $3.76.
Who wants it extended, and who wants it dead
Refiners are the waiver's biggest users. A Bloomberg Government review found major refiners, led by Valero Energy with 29 filings, submitted most waiver applications. Energy and free market groups, including the National Taxpayers Union and Americans for Prosperity, have urged the White House to extend and loosen the waiver before winter, saying the stricter August process cut fuel shipments sharply.
American shipowners, shipbuilders and maritime unions want the opposite. In a November 3 letter, Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Maritime Partnership, urged Trump to let the waiver expire, saying members reported more than $2.6 billion in delayed shipbuilding investment. She also said more than 28 percent of reported waiver voyages involved ships or companies tied to China, including the state owned shipping giant COSCO, which she called a national security risk. "Allowing the Jones Act waiver to expire as scheduled will restore certainty, protect American jobs and ensure our domestic maritime industry remains strong," she wrote. Nine maritime unions have questioned whether foreign crews follow U.S. tax, immigration and safety rules, and Rep. Salud Carbajal of California has demanded answers from Homeland Security about voyages missing from public records.
What happens on November 15
If no extension is announced by Sunday night, the law snaps back into full force. Under Customs and Border Protection guidance, cargo covered by the current waiver must be loaded before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 15. After that, fuel between U.S. ports can move only on American built, American owned and American crewed ships, apart from individual waivers under the case by case process the law already allows.
The decision sits with the president, three days before the deadline. Should a waiver written for a wartime emergency still be in place eight months later, or has it run long enough? Tell us what you think.
Reporting note: This story is based on Reuters reporting published on November 12, 2026, including statements from industry sources and a White House official; U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance on the March 17, 2026 waiver and its extensions (CSMS No. 69519766); an American Action Forum analysis of the waiver's flows and cost savings (September 2026); the American Maritime Partnership's November 3, 2026 letter to the White House, as reported by WorkBoat, gCaptain and the Maritime Executive; an October 22, 2026 letter to the president from the National Taxpayers Union and 18 other groups, as reported by Bloomberg Government and syndicated outlets; and reporting by gCaptain on oversight questions raised by Rep. Salud Carbajal and nine maritime labor organizations. The expected extension has not been formally announced, and the White House says no decision has been made.
