White House Extends Jones Act Waiver

White House Extends Jones Act Waiver

By David Murray

Confirming rumors that were reported early by several new organizations including Reuters, the White House announced on November 13 a further 90-day extension of the case-by-case Jones Act waiver under 46 USC 501(a), with the same process and terms as the current waiver, which was set to expire November 15.

In a newsletter, The American Waterways Operators said that since the case-by-case waiver permit process was instituted August 15, replacing an earlier broader waiver established in March, waiver voyages conducted by foreign vessels have dropped by 73 percent.

The AWO reported that the Department of War has rejected waiver requests where the Maritime Administration reports availability of Jones Act-qualified vessels and/or DoW rejects the national defense justification for the waiver. In addition, the AWO said, “knowledgeable sources” indicated that a number of voyages for which waivers were approved did not take place as shippers evaluated the economics and other considerations surrounding the move, including clarification from the U.S. Treasury that waiver voyages are subject to taxation as domestic voyages.

AWO and the American Maritime Partnership have advocated an end to the waiver and the use of the case-by-case process under 46 USC 501(b) in the event of a national defense emergency that cannot be met by U.S. vessels. The extension announcement follows vigorous efforts by Jones Act opponents calling for a blanket waiver of the Jones Act, with no consideration of U.S. vessel availability, for the remainder of the Trump administration.

AWO’s Jennifer Carpenter, who also heads the American Maritime Partnership, issued the following statement in response to the case-by-case extension announcement: “The Jones Act is foundational to American maritime strength and independence.  AWO emphasizes the importance of ending the Jones Act waiver so that we can move forward to strengthen America’s domestic maritime industrial base and the workforce that sustains it. We appreciate the Maritime Administration’s ongoing scrutiny of waiver requests to ensure that available U.S. vessels are not displaced by foreign vessels and urge that case-by-case waiver requests continue to be evaluated strictly against the national defense standard required by law.”