President Trump’s 2026 Jones Act waivers moved tens of millions of barrels of U.S. energy that the domestic fleet could not carry. Freight savings are real but modest on a national scale; the larger story is avoided shortages, reopened domestic routes, and a live stress test of a 1920 law that left the United States with too few ships.

On March 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security issued the longest and broadest Jones Act waiver since at least 1950, covering energy commodities and fertilizer inputs. The waiver was extended twice and now runs through November 15, 2026, with a narrower product list and voyage-by-voyage review after August 17. The Cato Institute’s Jones Act […]

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Will Turkey be impacted by a potential gas squeeze as new Iran sanctions kick in?

Turkey faces heightened risk of disrupted natural gas supplies from Iran following the U.S. Treasury’s launch of an intensified economic isolation campaign against Tehran on August 24, 2026. As a key U.S. ally and Iran’s third-largest trading partner, Ankara must navigate secondary sanctions threats that could complicate or sever one of its major pipeline gas […]

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Mark Carney to Build a New Economy with the EU – It appears he is working for China and the EU, and not the Canadians.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has accelerated efforts to deepen Canada’s economic and security ties with the European Union, framing diversification as essential amid escalating trade friction with the United States. Official statements and actions indicate a strategic pivot toward Europe (and select other partners) rather than prioritizing new comprehensive U.S. trade arrangements beyond existing […]

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Ukraine Hits Lukoil Refinery. How Degraded is the Russian Refinery Capacity?

On the morning of August 21, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Perm Krai, more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Thick black smoke rose over the facility, one of Russia’s 10 largest refineries with a design capacity of around 13 million metric tons of crude per year (approximately 262,000 […]

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