U.S. Rep. Ed Case has asked President Joe Biden and fellow lawmakers to waive the Jones Act due to increasing oil prices.
Earlier this week, Biden announced the U.S. is banning Russian energy imports in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
While consumers across the country are feeling the effects at gas pumps, Hawaiʻi residents will have to pay a higher premium for oil.
This is due to the Jones Act of 1920, which mandates that all shipped goods within the U.S. must be transported on ships built, owned and operated by American citizens.
Case said Hawaiʻi is in a unique position because, prior to the ban, 33% of the state’s oil imports came from Russia.
"Before we ceased importing Russian oil, the oil coming into Hawaiʻi was not subject to the Jones Act, and so there was not the premium on that oil," Case said. "That’s why the folks that buy and refine the fossil fuel energy that we use in Hawaiʻi, that’s why they went to the international market to buy it to start with."
"If we didn’t have the Jones Act, they’d probably buy it domestically. But if they did that, they either would have to pay a huge premium or they would not be able to transfer it down here, because those ships are not available," he said.
Case said there are no American oil tankers that ship to Hawaiʻi – likely causing additional costs for consumers.
