March 18, 2026 — Washington D.C.
With gas prices hitting $3.84 per gallon — up 32% in just 18 days since the Iran war began — and diesel topping $5.07 per gallon for the first time since 2022, President Donald Trump signed a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act on Wednesday in an attempt to ease energy prices for American consumers. The move was immediately welcomed by some — and immediately dismissed by others. Experts say the waiver will cut gas prices by a maximum of 3 to 5 cents per gallon. Here is everything you need to know about what the Jones Act is, what the waiver does, and whether it will actually help.
📜 What Is the Jones Act? A 106-Year-Old Law Explained
The Jones Act — formally known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 — is a 106-year-old federal law that was passed in the aftermath of World War I to protect and grow the American domestic shipping industry. The law has four key requirements for any ship carrying cargo between two American ports:
- 🇺🇸 U.S.-flagged: The ship must fly the American flag
- 🏭 U.S.-built: The ship must have been constructed in the United States
- 👤 U.S.-owned: At least 75% of the ship must be owned by U.S. citizens
- 👷 U.S.-crewed: At least 75% of the crew must be U.S. citizens
In plain English: if a company wants to ship oil from Houston, Texas to New York City — both American ports — it must use an American ship, built in America, owned by Americans, and crewed by Americans. Foreign ships are not permitted to move goods between U.S. ports.
The Jones Act's restrictions are particularly stark in the context of energy transportation. Of the world's nearly 7,500 tankers for moving crude oil and refined products, just 54 comply with the law. That means less than 1% of the world's oil tankers can legally move fuel between American ports. The result is a chronic shortage of domestic shipping capacity — and higher costs for consumers.
🚢 What Does the Waiver Actually Do?
Trump's 60-day waiver temporarily suspends the Jones Act's requirements — allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport the commodities between US ports for the next 60 days.
In practical terms, this means:
- ✅ Foreign-flagged oil tankers can now move oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal between any two American ports
- ✅ The pool of available tankers expands from about 54 Jones Act-compliant vessels to potentially thousands of international ships
- ✅ Shipping costs between U.S. ports drop — because foreign ships are significantly cheaper to operate
- ✅ Energy supply chains that were strained by the Strait of Hormuz closure get additional domestic flexibility
U.S.-flagged tankers typically cost about $50,000 more per day to operate than foreign vessels. Using foreign vessels is expected to cut the transportation costs of fuel by about 5 cents per gallon, according to The New York Times.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the waiver Wednesday, saying: "President Trump's decision to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury. This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for sixty days, and the Administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains."
⛽ Will It Actually Lower Gas Prices? The Brutal Honest Answer
Almost certainly not in any meaningful way — at least not while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Experts on the Jones Act say that a short-term waiver will do little to dramatically lower prices. They note that oil prices are set independently of transportation costs. The waiver would simply allow additional ships to carry supplies.
"The impact will be minimal," says William Doyle, a former commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission under the Trump and Obama administrations. If there are any savings at all, he says, it would be just fractions of a penny per gallon.
The American Maritime Partnership — the lobbying group for the domestic shipping industry — was even more blunt: "This waiver will not reduce gas prices. The maximum potential impact of domestic shipping on the cost of gasoline nationwide is less than one penny per gallon."
The core problem is this: the Jones Act affects domestic transportation costs between U.S. ports — but the price of gasoline is driven by the global price of crude oil. And the global price of crude oil is driven by the Strait of Hormuz closure — a problem the Jones Act waiver does nothing to address.
President Donald Trump's suspension of the Jones Act to free up shipping did little to calm markets. The average cost of unleaded gas is now 32 percent higher than a month ago. Oil prices continued rising even after the announcement — Brent crude was trading at nearly $109 a barrel on Wednesday, up from roughly $70 before the war began.
💰 The Current Gas Price Crisis — By the Numbers
| Fuel | One Month Ago | Today (March 18) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⛽ Regular Gas | $2.92/gal | $3.84/gal | +$0.92 (+32%) |
| 🚛 Diesel | $3.65/gal | $5.07/gal | +$1.42 (+39%) |
| 🛢️ Brent Crude | ~$70/barrel | ~$109/barrel | +$39 (+56%) |
| 🛢️ WTI Crude | ~$65/barrel | ~$97/barrel | +$32 (+49%) |
The Jones Act waiver, even in the most optimistic estimates, would reduce gas prices by 3 to 5 cents per gallon — meaning gas would fall from $3.84 to approximately $3.79 to $3.81. Not the relief Americans are looking for.
🏭 The American Maritime Industry Fires Back
The Jones Act waiver drew immediate condemnation from the domestic maritime industry — which warned that the move would harm American workers while doing nothing to lower prices.
The American Maritime Partnership, a maritime industry lobbying group, criticized the White House's decision as dangerous to American workers. "We are deeply concerned about this 60-day, broad waiver being abused and unnecessarily displacing American workers and American companies. The law sets a high bar: this waiver exists solely to address an immediate threat to military operations, not to displace American workers or reward foreign operators."
The group represents vessel owners and operators, unions, equipment yards and vendors who depend on Jones Act protections for their livelihoods. They argued that cheaper foreign competition — allowed in only because of a temporary emergency — would permanently damage an industry that had invested billions in American-built, American-crewed ships in reliance on the law's protections.
Jones Act supporters also point out that the law serves important national security functions beyond just supporting the maritime industry. A domestic fleet of American-built, American-crewed ships provides military logistics capacity that cannot be outsourced to foreign operators in wartime — the very situation the country is now in.
🌍 The Real Problem: Strait of Hormuz
Virtually every energy economist who commented on the Jones Act waiver said the same thing: the waiver is the wrong tool for the problem.
The actual cause of the gas price crisis is not a shortage of ships to move oil between American ports. It is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway through which approximately 20% of the world's daily oil supply flows. Iran effectively closed the strait on March 3, 2026. Until it reopens, global oil supply remains dramatically constrained, and prices will stay elevated regardless of how many foreign tankers are allowed to sail between Houston and New York.
Oil prices aren't likely to come down as long as Iran continues to choke the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil supplies passes.
The Jones Act waiver essentially addresses domestic logistics — moving oil that is already in the United States more cheaply between American ports. It does nothing about the global supply shortfall caused by the Hormuz closure.
📜 When Has the Jones Act Been Waived Before?
The Jones Act has been waived in limited circumstances in the past — almost always in response to natural disasters or military emergencies:
- 🌀 2005: Hurricane Katrina — waived to allow foreign ships to supply Gulf Coast ports
- 🌀 2017: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria — waived to supply Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico
- 🦠 2020: COVID-19 pandemic — limited waivers for specific commodities
- 🇺🇦 2022: Partial waiver to ease energy supply after Russia's Ukraine invasion
- 🇮🇷 2026: Iran war — 60-day broad waiver, the most sweeping in recent history
Critics of the Jones Act note that the frequency of waivers demonstrates the law's fundamental problem — it works well in normal times but creates bottlenecks precisely when the country needs flexibility most. Opponents of the Jones Act say that the real way to see extended savings for American consumers is to do away with the law altogether.
🔮 What Else Is the Trump Administration Trying?
The Jones Act waiver is just the latest in a series of emergency measures the Trump administration has deployed to fight rising energy prices since the Iran war began:
- 🛢️ IEA emergency reserves: 400 million barrels released from global strategic reserves
- 🇷🇺 Russian oil sanctions lifted: Temporarily allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil already at sea
- ⛵ Jones Act waiver: 60 days — announced March 18, 2026
- ⚓ Naval escorts: Promised for Strait of Hormuz — not yet operational
- 💣 Military strikes: 5,000-pound bunker-busters targeting Iranian coastal missile sites
None of these measures have succeeded in bringing oil prices down. Oil prices continued their upward spiral Wednesday, as Israel and Iran threatened more attacks on petroleum facilities, jolting markets and sending the cost of a barrel of crude to nearly $110.
📊 Key Facts at a Glance
- 📜 Jones Act passed: 1920 (106 years old)
- 📅 Waiver announced: March 18, 2026
- ⏰ Waiver duration: 60 days
- 🚢 Jones Act-compliant tankers worldwide: ~54 (out of 7,500 total)
- 💰 Cost premium for Jones Act ships: $50,000+ per day vs foreign ships
- ⛽ Expected gas price reduction: 3-5 cents/gallon (max)
- ⛽ Current gas price: $3.84/gallon (up 32% from one month ago)
- 🚛 Current diesel price: $5.07/gallon
- 🛢️ Brent crude: ~$109/barrel
- 💬 Industry verdict: "Will not reduce gas prices" — American Maritime Partnership
- 💬 Expert verdict: "Impact will be minimal" — Former FMC Commissioner Doyle
- 🔑 Real solution needed: Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
- 💬 VP Vance: Called the surge a "temporary blip"
📡 Sources: NPR (March 18, 2026), CNN Politics (March 18), CNBC (March 18), UPI (March 18), Washington Post (March 18), Bloomberg (March 18), Fortune (March 18), Washington Times (March 18), CBS News (March 12), AAA gas price data — March 18, 2026.
🔄 Last updated: March 18, 2026.
🔖 Tags: Jones Act Waiver, Trump Jones Act, Gas Prices 2026, Iran War Economy, Oil Prices 2026, Jones Act 1920, Foreign Oil Tankers, American Maritime Partnership, Operation Epic Fury, Breaking News
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