US President Donald Trump has temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to help ease energy costs that have surged since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the Middle East into war, AFP reports.

Trump’s move to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver would lift a ban on foreign-flagged vessels transporting cargo between US ports over this period.

It is a step to mitigate “short-term disruptions to the oil market” from the conflict, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said in a statement. “This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertiliser, and coal to flow freely to US ports for 60 days.”