From the Washington Examiner

A pair of Republican Louisiana senators said Wednesday they received assurances from President Trump that he would not grant waivers to bypass the Jones Act, a century-old law regulating domestic maritime commerce, to ease the transport of natural gas to the Northeast and Puerto Rico.

The office of Sen. Bill Cassidy said he and other members of Congress met with Trump earlier Wednesday at the White House “to advocate on behalf Louisiana shipbuilders and maritime workers,” and secured “a commitment from the president to not go forward with the proposed waivers.”

“We cannot let the United States become dependent on foreign countries to transport energy and critical products within the United States,” Cassidy said. “The Jones Act is essential to preserve our domestic shipping industry and protect our national and economic security.”

Sen. John Kennedy, also of Louisiana, released a similar statement, saying “after talking to President Trump, I am confident that he realizes how important the Jones Act is to Louisiana’s maritime industry and that no changes will be made.”

A third participant in the meeting, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, confirmed Trump’s pledge to not give Jones Act waivers.

“President Trump seemed receptive to not putting forward Jones Act waivers for natural gas,” Michael Soukup, a Sullivan spokesperson, told the Washington Examiner.

Enacted in 1920, the Jones Act prohibits tankers from hauling goods and commodities, such as oil or natural gas, between U.S. ports unless the ships are American-made, -owned, and -crewed.

The Jones Act was designed to protect American maritime interests and shipbuilders, and the industry has repeatedly fended off attempts in Congress to repeal it, with coastal lawmakers from states such as Louisiana stepping in to save it. Jones Act boosters warn waivers would harm American jobs.

But the White House had been considering granting Jones Act waivers to deliver liquefied natural gas to the Northeast and Puerto Rico, which suffer from high energy prices and are unable to obtain U.S.-produced natural gas. Some oil and gas industry officials argue the Jones Act is hampering Trump’s “energy dominance agenda” by effectively prohibiting areas of the country that lack energy resources, and suffer from high prices, from receiving U.S.-produced natural gas.

A waiver would enable the shipment of natural gas from Gulf Coast export facilities to Northeast receiving terminals, such as the Everett LNG terminal near Boston.

The Puerto Rican government has requested the Trump administration grant a 10-year waiver to allow foreign-flagged ships to deliver natural gas to the U.S. territory in order to help combat high energy prices after Hurricane Maria destroyed the country’s electric grid.

There are no Jones Act-compliant tankers that can transport liquefied natural gas, so U.S. companies must turn to importing higher-priced LNG from overseas.

Tags: ,

Legal Notice