Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Eighteen Republican members of Congress said the remedies laid out as part of the US’ investigation into China’s maritime dominance are unworkable for farmers, notably a port tax on Chinese vessels and the requirement that an increasing volume of US exports be shipped on US-flagged vessels.

Some US-based shippers are racing to beat the April 9 imposition of new tariffs on most goods, while others are holding back product in Asia on the chance the levies will be reduced by President Donald Trump, whose tariff implementation strategy in recent weeks has been marked by a large dose of impulsiveness.

But any shipper celebrations over potentially lower rates in a cooling market will be tempered by concerns about border congestion as US customs will now be tasked with processing millions of de minimis imports every day.

But countries believed by the White House as having an unfair advantage over the US on trade will be hit with higher levies, including China, South Korea and European Union nations.

Price and volume increases are being seen across trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trade lanes, but there is little clarity on whether underlying demand is enough to prop up spot rates once the tariffs have been implemented.

Firms sourcing from Vietnam, India or Mexico rely heavily on components, raw materials and equipment from China, which will remain an essential link in the production supply chain even if it’s no longer the only one.

In creating the threat of a clearly significant penalty, the US Trade Representative essentially forced observers to not merely give a thumbs up or down to the proposal, but to offer alternative solutions.

The carrier wants the tax imposed on CO2 emissions to raise the price of conventional bunkers high enough to force increased demand for low- and zero-emission fuels and narrow the yawning price gap between green and fossil energy.

Brent Sadler served in the US Navy for 26 years and now works as a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

An alliance of global shippers is calling on the IMO to use the April gathering of its Marine Environment Protection Committee to meet the “urgency of the moment” when it comes to lowering emissions from shipping.

Why the impact is so potentially profound is the way carriers would likely respond to a scenario in which a fuel standard is imposed on them, but no automatically higher cost is imposed on shippers to pay, writes Peter Tirschwell.

US maritime interests said the proposed fees on Chinese ships would hit a variety of low-value, niche trades that can’t absorb the costs.

The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which potentially puts the organization in the crosshairs of the new administration that is reassessing all its UN positions and policies.

The country’s competition watchdog is reviewing whether DP World’s acquisition of the logistics provider could lead to higher costs for shippers.

The Federal Maritime Commission is looking at areas where ships are having transit troubles with an eye on how US maritime influence can fix those problems.

Fresh questions about the direction of the US economy after the tariff chaos unleashed by the Trump administration in recent weeks has container lines resetting their rate expectations for the 2025–26 service year.

The dizzying pace of the Trump administration’s moves against longtime US trading partners is putting shippers at risk of facing hefty new costs as a result of tariff “stacking.”

Analyst Lars Jensen’s closing message to conference participants planning their supply chains for the coming year is to move slowly and carefully because it will take months before clarity emerges.

Spot rates soared as the deadline for US tariffs approached this week, and now many shipments are stranded in transit, according to logistics providers.

Should the Trump administration’s proposal be implemented, capacity will have to be withdrawn from the US and redeployed to where it makes more economical sense, the CEO of the world’s largest ocean carrier said.

John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump’s national security advisor from 2018–19, said China is gauging its next global moves through how the US responds to the war in the Ukraine.

The cost of the US Trade Representative’s proposal for levying fees on Chinese ships and ocean carriers would fall to US shippers, who would also face fewer service options, the analyst says.

Shipper, forwarder and customs broker associations want to see the members of the Digital Container Shipping Association accelerate efforts to create interoperable process standards.

While the breakbulk sector failed to capitalize on the forward loading of steel to get in front of US import tariffs, it now has bigger concerns with US proposals to penalize Chinese-made MPVs.

The second tender from the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance calls for a carrier or a consortium of liners to move the equivalent of 1.5 million TEUs across the Pacific on ships powered by renewable synthetic fuels.

The FMC’s modified ruling in the TCW-Evergreen complaint allows room for carriers to charge late fees during port closures if the fees are reasonable.

The US Trade Representative said the proposed fees are designed to counter China’s influence over the global shipbuilding and maritime industry.

As the new US administration looks to strengthen its regional sphere of influence, bipartisan political support is building to boost US shipbuilding, and thus, the country’s ability to project power in the Arctic and reduce dependence on foreign carriers.

Automation of the customs entry process, which software provider Magaya announced this week, is being enabled by advances in data extraction from emails and offline files.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will accept additional comments on a proposed rule that would require brokers to make transactional data available to carriers.

Shipowners are having to make huge investments in vessels with a lifespan of over 20 years without a clear view of evolving regulations and technology that could render certain fuels unviable.

project44 is the latest established software provider to release a suite of artificial intelligence agents amid a torrent of startups building tools for logistics providers and shippers.

Donald Trump said he planned to announce that the US would impose a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum, both of which are key cargo types for the breakbulk sector.

Three carriers who were part of the now-disbanded THE Alliance can start offering service to and from the US by Sunday after the Federal Maritime Commission studied the new partnership’s market impact.

Regulatory uncertainty around the allowance of digital trade documents is one factor that has slowed the adoption of electronic bills of lading in the shipping industry.

DSV CEO Jens Lund said the size of the Schenker acquisition meant it could take up to two years before the companies were fully integrated into the world’s largest forwarder.

The former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host was confirmed by a 77-22 vote on Tuesday.

The FMC complaint is a rare instance of a container line accusing a shipper of not living up to the terms of a service contract.

Donald Trump, just hours after returning to the White House Monday, signed an executive order to begin the process of pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement climate change treaty.

President Donald Trump injecting himself into longshore labor talks and his recent threat to take over the Panama Canal are a precursor to the unpredictability container shipping will face over the next four years, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.