President Donald Trump has waived the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, loosening shipping restrictions that officials said were hindering efforts to provide aid to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the decision on Twitter Thursday, writing that Trump authorized the waiver at the request of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.
At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately.
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) September 28, 2017
A growing number of lawmakers had called on Trump to lift the Jones Act, a nearly 100-year-old protectionist shipping law that requires ships carrying goods between American ports to be built in the U.S. and crewed and owned by Americans. They argued the 1920 law slowed down recovery aid from getting to Puerto Rico and forced the island to absorb extra shipping costs because of the expenses for imported goods.
The Department of Homeland Security quickly waived the Jones Act for Texas and Florida to help with relief efforts after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Island officials said a waiver would be a significant help for recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, CNN reported.
"It is an act of justice. It will allow Puerto Ricans to rebuild and to have a cost of living that really frankly is affordable," Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, said on CNN on Thursday.
Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of homeland security, made the decision to waive the act, a Homeland Security spokesperson told the New York Times. The waiver will be in effect for 10 days.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he was thinking about temporarily lifting the act but had not made a decision.
"We're thinking about that, but we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people, a lot of people who work in the shipping industry, that don't want the Jones Act lifted," he said.
Prominent Democrats like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) had called for the Trump administration to waive the Jones Act, which is supported by unions like Seafarers International and meant to protect the financial interests of U.S. shipbuilders.
Republican lawmakers have also said the Jones Act should be lifted for Puerto Rico, including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and John McCain (Ariz.).