Transport, Trade and Regulation News

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Should the Trump administration’s proposal be implemented, capacity will have to be withdrawn from the US and redeployed to where it makes more economical sense, the CEO of the world’s largest ocean carrier said.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

Officials at Los Angeles and Long Beach say they are prepared to do what is necessary should the new administration target green policies at the ports.

Just ahead of November’s election, then-Commissioner Sola laid out “America First” initiatives during an October speech, highlighting the further development of LNG export facilities and the fuel’s impact on ship bunkering.

With the president-elect looking to unwind some Biden administration policies, US port operators want to ensure that maritime transportation funding will not be unduly affected.

The twin complaints to the FMC charge that several ocean carriers pushed the shippers into paying surcharges and premium rates totaling $5.5 million, while creating another $76 million in added spot market costs.

The US is seeking to amend rules regarding so-called de minimis shipments, which have skyrocketed since the pandemic.

Carriers adopting a “wait-and-see” approach to the new regulation will face significant penalties and a potential loss of income from decarbonization-focused customers, according to a report from the classification society.

The IMO tends to move at a glacial pace, but with 2030 emissions targets looming, it no longer has that luxury.

The action, announced last week, is likely to result in US e-commerce brands shifting their fulfillment back to the US or switching to fulfillment providers in Asia, sources have told the Journal of Commerce.

Forwarders and shippers expect a pending trade agreement with the European Union to boost South American imports from the continent as soon as late 2025.

Fears that methanol will not be available in the coming years at the scale required to power a growing and thirsty ocean fleet are pushing the order book deeper down the LNG pathway.

The Federal Maritime Commission said that it needs more information about the new grouping of ocean carriers known as the Premier Alliance before the vessel-sharing agreement can begin in February on US trades.

Canada’s anti-trust enforcer said laws already on the books adequately cover the liner industry, but it has no ability to police freight rates or service levels.

US maritime regulators are investigating reports that the Spanish government has blocked US-flag Maersk ships carrying military cargoes for Israel from calling Algeciras.

The regulation is designed to enhance security across global supply chains and brings the EU in line with other major exporting countries.