Trump Waives Jones Act to Get Relief to Puerto Rico
Fred Lucas /
President Donald Trump temporarily waived a shipping regulation to boost relief efforts to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico after pressure from members of Congress on both parties.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the policy change in a Thursday morning tweet.
At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 28, 2017
However, the 10-day waiver won’t likely be enough, said David Inserra, a policy analyst for homeland security at The Heritage Foundation.
“A waiver for 10 days is only enough to get the aid, but what about when the need to rebuild?” Inserra told The Daily Signal. “The Jones Act is restricting the way materials get to the island and is driving up costs.”
Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Irma, but then devastated by Hurricane Maria, leaving massive infrastructure damage and power outages.
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, has typically been confined to debates about energy independence, trade, and regulation. The law requires shipments between two U.S. ports be on U.S.-built, U.S.-manned, and U.S.-owned vessels.
The Trump administration previously granted temporary waivers to the law after recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, primarily for the purpose of transporting fuel.
“The argument the administration made is that the island is so damaged aid is not getting through and a lot of ships are stuck at port,” Inserra said. “That may be true, but once those roads are built, there will be a massive need for aid and for rebuilding. … Instead of issuing security waivers from onerous regulations, why don’t we just get rid of the onerous regulations?”
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello was thankful for the action.
Thank you @POTUS https://t.co/KRfrizf7Bv
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) September 28, 2017
During the White House press briefing Thursday, Tom Bossart, the president’s top homeland security adviser, said the exemption wasn’t initially made because it didn’t seem necessary until the governor requested it.
“We had provided as many commodities as were necessary to the island. The challenge was land-based distribution. That remains the challenge,” Bossart told reporters. “That remains the priority today. However, last night, Gov. Rosello called me a little after eight o’clock and said, at this point, to ensure additional needs are met as we move forward, it may be a good idea to proactively make sure that we plot all the stops just in case that capacity problem ran into the requirement problem. I talked to the president. He thought that was the right thing to do and waved it right away.”
The American Maritime Partnership, the U.S. shipbuilders lobby, contends the waiver won’t help.
“Because of infrastructure challenges, a Jones Act waiver could hinder, not help, relief efforts,” a press release from the group said Wednesday. “A Jones Act waiver could overwhelm the system, creating unnecessary backlogs and causing confusion on the distribution of critical supplies throughout the island.”
Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Mike Lee of Utah introduced legislation on Thursday that would permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the law to both aid recovery efforts and boost long-term economic growth.
“The Jones Act is just another example of a federal regulation that harms American consumers, gives foreign corporations an edge over American businesses, and makes disaster response harder,” Lee said in a statement. “It is far past time to repeal it.”
This story was updated to include comments by White House adviser Tom Bossart and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.