Trump has just waived the Jones Act this morning to aid in getting much needed supplies to Puerto Rico:
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
Yesterday night, I petitioned the @WhiteHouse for a temporary waver of the Jones Act.
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) September 28, 2017
Here’s more from CNN:
The White House has authorized a waiver to loosen shipping rules regarding Puerto Rico that island officials say would be a significant help for recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria.
“At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted Thursday morning.
Her tweet comes after Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said he asked the White House to loosen the regulations Wednesday night.
He joined the growing list of officials who argued that lifting the the Jones Act — a federal law designed to protect the financial interests of US shipbuilders by limiting shipping by foreign vessels — would help expedite supplies to the ravaged island. The act has had the unintended consequence of making it twice as expensive to ship things from the US mainland to Puerto Rico as it is to ship from any other foreign port in the world, according to Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s office.
Here’s a better description of the Jones Act:
The Jones Act is an obscure, century-old law that requires all goods ferried between U.S. ports to be carried on ships built, owned and operated by Americans.
The Jones Act, when it was established in 1920, was meant to promote shipping by U.S.-owned and operated vessels.
The problem, from what I’ve read, is that the coast took such a beating from Maria that there aren’t many available ports right now to receive aid. But considering how badly the island was hit, perhaps they can remedy that quickly so that the waiving of the Jones Act will have a much greater impact.