Rep. Case calls on Trump to extend Jones Act waiver for another 60 days to tamp down fuel costs

Hawaiʻi US Rep. Ed Case is asking President Donald Trump to extend a waiver of the Jones Act for another 60 days, warning that its expiration next month could worsen fuel supply disruptions and drive up energy costs across Hawaiʻi.

The current waiver, which allows international shipping vessels to deliver oil and other energy products from the US Mainland to Hawaiʻi, is set to expire Aug. 15. Case first requested the waiver in April, citing global shipping disruptions, tightening fuel supply chains and instability linked to the war in Iran.

In a July 17 letter to Trump, Case argued the extension should be granted well ahead of the expiration date because contracts for shipping and delivering fossil fuel products to US ports are typically signed far in advance, and delaying a decision could disrupt shipping options and pricing.

The Jones Act, a federal maritime law more than a century old, requires that cargo moved between US ports travel on US-flagged vessels. Case’s office said fewer than 100 oceangoing vessels nationwide meet that requirement, limiting domestic shipping capacity without international competition and contributing to higher transportation costs.

The law’s effects are especially pronounced for Hawaiʻi’s energy supply, Case said. According to his office, of roughly 7,500 oil tankers operating worldwide, only 54 are Jones Act-compliant and eligible to carry fossil fuel products from the Mainland to Hawaiʻi. As a result, Hawaiʻi typically has to rely on foreign markets for most of its essential fuel resources, where shipping costs less, according to Case.

The islands’ heavy military presence as a reason for urgency, he said. Hawaiʻi serves as the Indo-Pacific headquarters for every US military branch and hosts US Pacific Command, US Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces, US Army Pacific, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Special Operations Command Pacific, Space Force Indo-Pacific and the National Security Agency Hawaiʻi. Installations in the state include Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Pōhakuloa Training Area, supporting roughly 60,000 Department of Defense personnel and their families, according to the news release.

Case said the conditions that prompted his original request in April — including global tanker shortages and disruptions tied to instability around the Strait of Hormuz — have not eased.

He has also reintroduced legislation in the current session of Congress that would reform the Jones Act and open shipping between Hawaiʻi and the continental US to international competition, according to the news release.