Global Trade Alert

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced a temporary blanket waiver of the Jones Act cabotage restrictions on foreign-flag vessels delivering fuel and related products, such as feedstocks, blending components, and additives used in the production of fuel, to US ports. That law normally restricts coastal traffic to ships that are US-built, US-owned, and US-crewed. The waiver ran from November 2-13 as part of the effort to assist storm-ravaged states in the northeastern states deal with the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy.