Since March, the waiver has failed to lower gas and diesel prices and has only hurt the U.S. maritime industry.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2026 — The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, is returning to the airwaves with a six-figure television advertising campaign calling on President Trump to end the political Jones Act waiver. The campaign will air in the Washington, DC area ahead of the closely watched midterm elections.
The campaign’s flagship ad, “Talking Point,” delivers a clear message to President Trump, his advisers and Congress: the waiver has failed to lower energy prices and hurt the industry by undermining long-term shipbuilding investments.
“Since March, the political Jones Act waiver has been used as a talking point on high gas prices and a scapegoat by middlemen profiting off those high prices,” said Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Maritime Partnership. “Allowing foreign vessels to take business from Americans undermines the very investments the federal government is encouraging the industry to make. We are back on the air ahead of the elections to make the case to the Trump Administration and Congress that ending this waiver is an important next step in the ‘America First’ agenda.”
“We look forward to working with the Trump Administration to end the waiver and advance the Administration’s maritime dominance agenda.”
Opposition to the political Jones Act waiver has grown across party lines. In June, 52 House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, called for it to expire. Democratic Representatives Rick Larsen and Salud Carbajal have also raised oversight concerns about foreign vessels using the waiver and the national defense justification for their voyages. They are joined by a bipartisan chorus of supporters in the Senate.
Independent research has repeatedly questioned the economic justification for the policy. Navigistics Consulting found that the Jones Act’s maximum theoretical impact on national gasoline prices is less than a penny per gallon. The Coalition for a Prosperous America found that nearly one-third of waiver voyages had ties to China or Hong Kong, while elevated refining margins, not domestic shipping costs, were a large driver of fuel prices.
The costs to America’s national security could be far greater. A recent Lexington Institute report identified the Jones Act as a critical driver of American shipbuilding investment and innovation, supporting new vessels, expanded shipyards and the skilled workforce essential to national defense. Continuing to divert domestic cargo to foreign competitors, including Russia and China, undermines the market that sustains shipbuilding investments.
What began as a temporary emergency measure in March has continued for months without delivering lower energy prices. The Jones Act’s waiver authority should not become a routine commercial shipping option for traders to game the system. AMP urges the Trump Administration to end the waiver and reaffirm its commitment to a U.S. shipbuilding renaissance.
For more information, visit EndTheWaiver.com.
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About the American Maritime Partnership
The American Maritime Partnership (AMP) is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry. More than 45,000 American vessels built in American shipyards, crewed by American mariners, and owned by American companies, operate in our waters 24-hours a day, seven days a week. This commerce sustains nearly 650,000 American jobs, $41.6 billion in labor compensation, and more than $154.8 billion in annual economic output. Learn more by visiting www.
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