Waiving the Jones Act will boost the number of ships available to transport oil in the U.S.

Gas prices have shot up, on average, between 70 and 80 cents per gallon since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Now, the Trump administration is loosening a Made-in-The USA requirement to try to get prices down. The Jones Act of 1920 mandates that only U.S.-made and operated ships transport cargo between American ports. The White House is waiving that mandate for 60 days.

The Jones Act was written to help maintain American shipbuilding and operating expertise.

But over the years, U.S. shipbuilding has shrunk anyway. We now have fewer than 100 ships legally qualified to go from one American port to another and just 55 tankers. That shortage has raised shipping costs.

“So, waving the Jones Act will certainly help. It'll dramatically expand the universe of ships available that can be used to transport goods within the United States,” said Colin Grabow, a trade policy researcher at the Cato Institute.

More ships mean lower costs. Grabow expects gasoline prices to decline in places like California, Florida, and the Northeast because those areas rely on ships instead of pipelines.

But analysts say the decline will be just a few cents per gallon at most.

“We know that the Strait of Hormuz is a critical choke point,” said Courtney Federico, who tracks energy policy at the Center for American Progress. “So until the Trump administration is able to find a diplomatic solution to this conflict, I struggle to see how they can significantly decrease energy and gasoline prices for Americans.”

In the meantime, oil prices have blown through early predictions of how high they might go — underlining just how unpredictable the current outlook has become.