Nearly three-quarters of registered voters believe the Trump Administration should extend the current waiver of the 1920 Jones Act before it expires this Sunday, according to a new national poll released Tuesday by National Taxpayers Union. The current waiver has provided temporary and partial relief from the Jones Act, which raises logistical costs and harms consumers by creating shipping bottlenecks.
The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, found that 73% favor extending the waiver before its scheduled expiration on November 15. Support includes 82% of base Republicans, 72% of independents, and 67% of base Democrats. The poll indicates Americans believe the Jones Act waivers are a practical way to outsmart shipping bottlenecks and keep American energy moving to reduce fuel prices.
“More gasoline and jet fuel reached the West Coast in 70 days during this year’s waivers than in the previous five years combined,” Free Trade Initiative Director Bryan Riley said. “Taxpayers are grateful President Trump signed the previous waivers and strenuously urge the president to extend and expand the waiver to help lower consumer costs.”
National Taxpayers Union last week launched a targeted digital advertising campaign urging President Trump to extend the waiver to prevent costly shipping bottlenecks.
The organization has long stressed the devastating unintended consequences of the over 100-year-old shipping law, which has failed to achieve its objective of creating a strong U.S. commercial fleet and it has actually made it cheaper to ship fertilizer from Peru to Louisiana than to ship fertilizer from Florida to Louisiana.
Because there are so few ships available, freight that could move by sea between U.S. ports gets pushed onto trucks and trains, which raises costs and slows deliveries. Because they cost so much to build, fewer than 100 ships in the U.S. fleet meet Jones Act requirements, and none of the tankers approved to ship liquefied natural gas meet Jones Act requirements.
The Jones Act costs the East Coast about $800 million a year in higher energy costs because fuel and natural gas can’t be shipped efficiently between U.S. ports.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters online.
National Taxpayers Union is the only free-market organization for taxpayers that unites effective advocacy with useful research about how to limit taxes, spending, and regulation at every level and branch of government—state, federal, administrative, and judicial.