By VOICES Staff.
Since the Jones Act Waiver Extension by President Donald Trump’s Administration, the men and women of American Maritime, the companies that represent them, the associations that fight for them, the Unions that defend them, and national security experts who understand their value have spoken out against the continued waiver.
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The Latest Statements:
American Maritime Partnership: “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. Waiving the Jones Act exports American jobs to foreign carriers, allows them to skirt U.S. laws, and exposes the nation to national security threats by opening our maritime borders.”
Seafarers International Union: “We strongly oppose the administration’s decision to extend the Jones Act waiver. At a time when the United States should be reinforcing its maritime strength, this action moves us in the opposite direction. The Jones Act is not simply an economic policy; it is a cornerstone of our national security, ensuring that America maintains a fleet of U.S.-flagged vessels crewed by highly trained American mariners who are ready to serve in both peace and war. Extending this waiver is fundamentally at odds with the administration’s stated “America First” policy. You cannot claim to prioritize American industry, American jobs, and American security while simultaneously sidelining American ships and American crews in favor of foreign alternatives. Equally concerning, this decision undermines our ability to recruit and retain the next generation of U.S. Merchant Mariners. Our workforce is already under pressure. Policies like this send the wrong signal to those considering a career at sea and to those currently serving – suggesting that their livelihoods and contributions can be set aside when it is most convenient.”
American Waterways Operators: “This Jones Act waiver extension throws open America’s maritime borders to foreign vessels and crews and puts American workers last. It is incongruous with the goal of restoring American maritime dominance and ignores the targeted, case-by-case waiver process provided by current law when genuine transportation needs cannot be met by American vessels. This broad Jones Act waiver is a gut punch to American workers and should be terminated immediately.”
Shipbuilders Council of America: “This Administration has committed $65 billion in government shipbuilding investment and released the historic Maritime Action Plan to help restore America’s maritime dominance. Extending the current Jones Act waiver contradicts all these commitments. Waivers do nothing to reduce energy prices for Americans. What they do is chill investment in the shipyards that are the economic lifeblood of communities across the country – the very investment this Administration’s policies are designed to attract. Waivers also throw open our ports and coastlines that enable any foreign ship or crew to infiltrate our maritime borders and gouge hardworking Americans while foreign energy companies and shippers get rich. This Administration should reject a waiver extension and to hold the line on protecting America First.”
Offshore Marine Services Association: “The Jones Act is the foundation of the American maritime industry, ensuring that U.S. domestic cargo movement supports American workers, vessels, shipyards, and the industrial base our Navy relies on. Extending this waiver undermines that foundation by signaling that American ships can be sidelined, driving away the long-term investment, possibly permanently.”
Dredging Contractors of America: “The extended Jones Act waiver is already distorting the market. Wall Street oil traders are walking away from American tanker operators and locking in months long transportation deals with foreign companies using foreign-built ships and foreign crews to move oil, gasoline, diesel, chemicals, and other products between U.S. ports. That is not national security. It is a giveaway. These deals will not lower prices at the pump. Not one cent is being passed to the American consumer. Instead, they take work from U.S. companies, strip jobs from American mariners, and shift economic activity to foreign firms that pay no U.S. taxes and contribute nothing to our industrial base. Donald Trump has been a strong supporter of rebuilding America’s maritime strength. But this policy cuts in the opposite direction. It undermines the very shipyards, operators, and workforce we need in a national emergency. It is time for the President to hear directly from the leaders of American shipyards, U.S. shipping companies, maritime labor, training institutions, and industry associations before further damage is done.”
Transportation Institute: “Transportation Institute stands with 650,000 hard-working American mariners and American marine shipping companies in opposing the Administration’s recent extended waiver of the Jones Act for another unprecedented 90 days. This waiver, which has done nothing to reduce the skyrocketing cost of oil on the global market, instead is undermining the U.S. maritime industry and the stated goal of resuming American maritime dominance. We urge Congress and the Administration to evaluate each requested waiver on its specific merits rather than apply an overly broad waiver which only helps advance the business interests of foreign carriers and foreign companies, rather than providing economic relief to Americans.”
Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Steven Horsford (NV-04), and Debbie Dingell (MI-06): “We stand with American mariners who protect our nation’s industrial and shipping capacity. Their mission is both an economic and national security imperative. By repeatedly waiving the Jones Act, the Administration actively undermines the American workforce and erodes our maritime competitiveness. Another extension is a direct blow to the hardworking Americans who deserve our support. By prioritizing foreign shipping interests over domestic labor, this waiver extension betrays American maritime professionals. Despite the initial 60-day suspension, gasoline prices have continued to climb significantly, proving that this action has had no meaningful impact on lowering costs for consumers. The Trump Administration must reverse course and deliver on its promise to rebuild the strength of the U.S. maritime industry.”
Congressman Jack Bergman (MI-01): “This is the most American of American industries, moving U.S. raw materials on American ships with American crews to American domestic manufacturing and other facilities. I strongly encourage the administration to use Jones Act waivers only when necessary and keep any Jones Act waiver as narrow and short and as limited as possible.”
AFL-CIO: “As American maritime workers risk their lives in the Middle East and around the world, it is deeply concerning that the Trump administration would open U.S. waterways to nonunion foreign competitors. This unnecessary and ineffective waiver is a giveaway to foreign shipping interests, dressed up as relief for America’s families at the pump. Domestic shipping costs less than 1 cent per gallon of gas. This waiver will do nothing to fix the squeeze working families are feeling when they fill up their tank while handing good union jobs to foreign corporate competitors. The Jones Act exists to protect a strong, American-flagged maritime fleet that is essential to our economy, national security and military readiness. The Trump administration should reverse this decision and come up with solutions to reduce energy costs that actually work, without sacrificing the workers who keep our nation’s waterways moving and our country secure.”
ILWU: “A blanket Jones Act waiver such as this undermines our national security, weakens military readiness and shifts critical maritime work to foreign vessel operators. During a time of heightened international conflict and uncertainty, opening U.S. waterways to foreign vessels is a dangerous move for the U.S. mariners we represent. The strength and security of our nation’s maritime industry rely on the Jones Act. The ILWU urges the Administration and Congress to pause this action and work with stakeholders – including labor – to develop responsible, long-term solutions.”
Great Lakes Maritime Task Force: “The waiver allows record numbers of foreign actors into U.S. domestic commerce, reducing U.S. security. Under the waiver, foreign companies and foreign crewmen are invited into U.S. domestic commerce at levels never seen before. The waiver explicitly outsources U.S. jobs to foreign workers and foreign companies, including Canadian or other foreign-flagged vessels operating on the Great Lakes, without even considering American vessel availability. In addition, because foreign workers are subject to far less stringent security standards than American crewmen, the waiver reduces homeland security and increases opportunities for foreign surveillance, sabotage, or worse by America’s adversaries throughout tens of thousands of miles of U.S. waters.”
Congressman John Garamendi (CA-08): “Trump is now allowing China to undercut our domestic manufacturers, put Americans out of work, and make us reliant on foreign vessels. If we are serious about rebuilding America’s maritime strength, we shouldn’t retreat—we should rebuild, we should compete, and we should put American ships and American workers first.”
American Maritime Congress: “This waiver extension threatens U.S. maritime security and undermines American workers’ efforts to keep our nation’s supply chains moving. The Jones Act ensures that American waters are served by American vessels, crewed by American mariners, answerable to American law. Every day this waiver remains in effect, we are handing our domestic trade routes to foreign operators, including those connected to strategic adversaries. These foreign elements pay no U.S. taxes, comply with no U.S. immigration, labor, or environmental laws, and owe this country nothing. The hardworking Americans who crew our commercial fleet is the same workforce the Naval Ready Reserve Force and Military Sealift Command depend on in times of conflict. When we hollow out that workforce in peacetime, we pay for it in wartime. There are more effective ways to address the current disruption that do not require setting aside these protections.”
Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association: “An open-ended waiver with no clear exit strategy provides no certainty for our domestic maritime industry, while delivering no measurable relief for working families filling up at the gas station. American energy should be moved by American workers, period. M.E.B.A. calls on President Trump to reverse course, rescind this waiver extension, and recommit to the domestic maritime industry that stands ready to serve this nation.”
Mike Roberts, Hudson Institute: “Ocean shipping costs, even in domestic markets, account for only a tiny fraction of the price of gasoline. Even if consumers save a penny or two per gallon, those savings would result primarily from replacing American mariners with lower-cost foreign crews for work performed in the U.S. This is an extraordinary departure from the President’s commitments to working-class Americans and contradictory to core America First policies, including those related to border security and tariffs.”
Marine Fireman’s Union: [Full Repeal of the Jones Act would] “annihilate the U.S. maritime industry and shipbuilding capacity in the same manner that the manufacturing, textile and steel industries have been annihilated by direct foreign competition.”
George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom: “Once foreign vessels are allowed into domestic trade routes, pressure will build to extend or expand such waivers in the future…A temporary waiver may solve a short-term logistical problem. But if it creates uncertainty, invites legal challenges, or further weakens America’s domestic maritime capabilities or immigration enforcement capabilities, it could ultimately do more harm than good to national security. In an increasingly dangerous world, preserving the integrity and strength of the Jones Act should remain a high priority — not an afterthought.”
Julio Rivera, Conservative Political Strategist: “National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and others have framed the Jones Act as a constraint that slows down commerce and drives up prices. That argument sounds appealing, especially in a moment of economic pressure. But it rests on assumptions that deserve closer scrutiny. It assumes that global shipping markets are stable and readily available. It assumes that foreign vessels will step in seamlessly without introducing new complications. It assumes that short-term relief will not carry long-term consequences…As tensions rise around the Strait of Hormuz, key US allies have refused to commit naval resources to escort commercial vessels through one of the world’s most critical chokepoints. If allied nations are unwilling to guarantee the security of global shipping lanes in a moment of crisis, it raises a more fundamental question: why would the United States voluntarily expand its dependence on those same foreign actors by weakening the Jones Act and giving them greater leverage over our domestic maritime economy?”