President Donald Trump is temporarily waiving a 100-year-old federal law to increase fuel and fertilizer shipments in the United States.
Per a 1920 statute known as the Jones Act, cargo moved between U.S. ports must be transported by vessels built, owned and registered in the U.S. Those ships must also be crewed by Americans. Trump’s executive order today suspends those requirements for 60 days.
“President Trump’s decision to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market, as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post. “This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for 60 days, and the administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains.”
Fuel prices in the U.S. have surged 25% since U.S. and Israeli forces began bombing Iran on Feb. 28. Shipments of key fertilizer components have also stalled because the conflict effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic.
In her own social media post March 17, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the waiver will boost shipping flexibility and help ease short-term supply pressures from global energy market shifts. According to her, it’s a “timely move” to support farmers during planting season.
“We’re working hard on other solutions, and all options are on the table,” Rollins said. “Stay tuned.”
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall applauded Trump’s executive order, saying it will allow more ships to bring critical fuel and fertilizer materials to U.S. ports.
“Spring planting season is already underway. And the jump in fertilizer and fuel costs, as well as the threat of shortages, sent shockwaves across rural America at a time when farmers are already grappling with low commodity prices and high inflation,” Duvall said in a press release today.
In a March 9 letter to the president, Duvall called on Trump to waive the Jones Act to improve domestic transportation capacity between U.S. ports. Other Farm Bureau recommendations include:
- having U.S. Navy ensure safe passage of fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz
- collaborating with international partners to maintain open shipping lanes
- using any tool to address insurance and financing barriers shippers now face due to the Iran conflict
- ensuring domestic port, rail and barge capacity is available to deliver fertilizer inputs in time for spring application
- exempting fertilizer components, including sulfur, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, anhydrous ammonia, aqua ammonia and calcium nitrate from tariffs, duties and trade restrictions
Officials with The Fertilizer Institute also welcomed Trump’s order. In a Tuesday public statement, TFI President Corey Rosenbusch said the action is “especially important” given the structural challenges in fertilizer logistics.
“The U.S. faces a classic mismatch between demand geography where fertilizer is needed by farmers, and production geography where fertilizer is produced,” he said. “Expanding transportation flexibility can help alleviate that strain.”
Rosenbusch notes in some cases it can cost significantly less to ship fertilizer internationally than between U.S. ports. That’s because Jones Act requirements can nearly double transportation costs.
Temporarily suspending the Jones Act was one of seven recommendations TFI lobbied Trump to act on in a March 9 letter. In addition to several requests similar to the Farm Bureau letter, TFI called on the president to temporarily support the movement of liquid natural gas exports to Europe, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Bangladesh from other destinations to limit shutdowns due to gas prices. According to the letter, doing this would enable nitrogen fertilizer plants to continue to produce while limiting supply shocks to large global fertilizer consumers.
TFI also called on Trump to maintain seamless trade between the U.S. and Canada, and to collaborate with industry leaders to ensure adequate fertilizer components can be delivered via more reliable importers like Venezuela and Turkey.
“We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the importance of efficient fertilizer movement to American agriculture as we approach our narrow window of a few weeks to get fertilizer applied and crops in the ground,” Rosenbusch added. “The fertilizer industry remains committed to ensuring farmers have reliable access to the nutrients they need to grow the crops that feed communities across the country and around the world.”