President Donald Trump granted a 90-day extension waiver for the Jones Act, a navigational restriction that bars foreign ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports.
The waiver, which was enacted to ease the pressure on oil prices caused by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the dispute over ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, was originally set to lapse in May. The extension keeps the waiver in place until Aug. 17.
HPR previously spoke with the Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi in March when Trump first issued the Jones Act waiver to learn what its immediate impact would be for the states commerce.
Now a month later, HPR speaks with Hawaii Shippers Council President Mike Hansen to learn more about the extension. According to Hansen, the latest public data from the U.S. Maritime Administration shows that as of April 25, 18 vessels so far have taken advantage of the waiver.
Interview Highlights
On Hawaiʻi's dependence on sea transported imports
HANSEN: We are highly dependent upon shipping for a good portion of our things that we need here. There was a study done by the state years ago, and they determined that around 90% of goods that are imported to Hawaiʻi come by sea. And at the time that this was done in the 1990s, they estimated about 80% of what we consume is imported, and I suspect that number has risen to more than 80% since then. We've closed some refineries. We no longer manufacture cement. We no longer produce milk, for example.
On the impact of the Jones Act on Hawaiʻi’s maritime commerce
HANSEN: Ocean shipping is one of the most effective and efficient forms of transportation that exists, so it should not create a huge burden for the Hawaiʻi economy. The reason it does so is because of Jones Act shipping, or the kind of shipping that is required to comply with U.S. law, otherwise known as the coastline laws of the United States. That's what makes it so expensive, and the primary driver in the cost of domestic shipping in the United States is the cost of construction. … We're essentially assembling ships using a great deal of foreign manufactured parts and paying four to five times as much as it would cost if we were to purchase the vessel from a foreign shipbuilder, and that is the source of the cost.
On opposition to the Jones Act waiver
HANSEN: The industry has issued statements in great opposition to the waiver. However, they have not taken legal action. And the reason that I would assume that they have not taken legal action is because the administration has been so supportive of their industry and not willing to change the rules it operates under, which we all refer to as the Jones Act. … And I think the reason they haven't done anything is because they know the administration has basically got a program in place to support them.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 30, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
