MW Trump's next move to stop oil's surge may involve a shipping law from 1920

By Robert Schroeder

Jones Act waivers are under consideration to ensure energy and agriculture products flow to U.S. ports, the White House says

The White House is considering allowing foreign ships to carry fuel and agricultural products between U.S. ports.

Oil's sharp surge amid the Iran conflict has the White House considering a bevy of options to limit crude's rise - including working around a century-old law known as the Jones Act.

The key U.S. shipping law dates back to 1920. Waiving it would allow foreign ships to carry fuel to refineries on the East Coast. The law mandates that only U.S.-made ships may transport cargo between domestic ports. Its original aim was to protect U.S. businesses from foreign competition.

From the archives (May 2021): What is the Jones Act? And why might waiving it help ease East Coast gas 'supply crunch'?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Thursday that such waivers haven't been finalized, but the administration is considering issuing them.

"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.

It wouldn't be the first time: Trump authorized waiving the Jones Act in 2017 to help hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, and former President Joe Biden eased it in 2021 after a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline.

A Bloomberg News report said the Trump administration is planning to issue 30-day waivers.

Any waivers would follow the U.S.'s commitment to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as part of a coordinated global effort to bring more oil to the global market.

Now read: Trump is tapping America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to fight rising gasoline prices. How much oil is left in it now?

Trump has shifted his rhetoric on energy prices, after speaking in previous months about how prices have dropped. In a social-media post on Thursday, he said the U.S. is "the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money."

"BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is [stopping] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won't ever let that happen!" he added.

U.S. stocks SPX traded sharply lower on Thursday as Brent oil prices (BRN00), the international benchmark, touched $100 a barrel.

Victor Reklaitis contributed.

-Robert Schroeder

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March 12, 2026 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)

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