Posted on August 5, 2026
By Jarrett Renshaw and Arathy Somasekhar
WASHINGTON/HOUSTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) – The White House is expected to extend a waiver of the century-old Jones Act in the coming days, sources say, reaching for one of the few tools it has to try and hold down gasoline prices as President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on Exxon Mobil and Chevron for making “too much money.”
The Jones Act requires cargo moving between U.S. ports to be carried on ships built in the U.S., owned by U.S. companies and crewed by American workers, and the waiver aims to lower gas prices by increasing shipping flexibility and reducing transport bottlenecks.
The oil industry had expected an extension by the end of July. But administration officials have continued meeting with maritime industry representatives and lawmakers over potential changes to narrow the scope of the waiver while preserving flexibility to move critical fuel supplies, according to three people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
The current waiver is set to expire on August 16 and has already become the longest suspension of the Jones Act rules in the program’s history. The exemption has been used nearly 200 times over four and a half months through the end of July, according to U.S. government data.
