The US Trump Administration said on Wednesday that a waiver of Jones Act for Puerto Rico is under consideration, despite a statement of the US Department of Homeland Security rejecting the waiver, on Tuesday.
The Jones Act is a law requiring that all goods shipped between US ports be carried by US owned-and-operated vessels.
On 26 September, US Representative Nydia M. Velázquez said:
“…The President must waive the Jones Act for one year. The aftermath of Hurricane Maria is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. Puerto Ricans are without food, clean water and electricity. We must use every tool at our disposal to channel assistance to the Island.”
Further, Acting Secretary Elaine Duke, US Senator John McCain also asked for a Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico, by asking DHS to assess how the waiver -or full repeal- of the Jones Act would benefit restoring operations at the hurricane-damaged regions.
The US DHS had also applied a Jones Act waver up to 22 September, on the aftermath of the two major hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, as a precautionary measure to support lifesaving efforts, respond to the storm, and restore critical services and critical infrastructure operations.
The last Jones Act waiver was issued in December 2012, for petroleum products to be delivered for relief assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
