Supply chain

Industry backlash mitigated the costliest components of the US Trade Representative’s proposed fees, but surcharges from some carriers are still likely on the way, writes Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Rates are climbing quickly amid fresh Chinese volumes headed to the US, with an expected crunch in vessel capacity and the potential for port congestion driving the gains. 

The canal agency highlighted data that refutes Trump administration claims about unfair treatment at the waterway, while the International Chamber of Shipping said freedom of navigation is a global responsibility.

Technology providers are rolling out artificial intelligence tools to help augment transportation teams and service providers with limited resources.

The investment will increase the Port of Caucedo’s capacity by 24% while expanding an adjacent Free Trade Zone, the terminal operator said.

Much of the volume that has been locked up over the past month will come flooding back into the market after Washington and Beijing agreed to significantly slash their respective tariffs for 90 days.

Despite a ceasefire announced over the weekend between India and Pakistan, the combined impact of the recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s west coast corridor in a state of flux.

A request for industry comment on trucking regulations that could be modified or ended generated 896 responses in one month, with electronic logging devices and hours of service rules at the top of the list.

Trade disputes cast a pall over US manufacturing and trucking as exports and imports drop, PMI surveys show.

The tight supply of warehousing for frontloaded freight is diverting truck shipments as shippers reposition inventory.

The main heavy-lift components needed for datacenters are cooling infrastructure such as large-scale air conditioners and backup power infrastructure such as batteries, diesel generators and transformers.

Importers in the US are rewiring their supply chains and drawing extra inventory from Canada, Mexico and domestically in a “wait and see” response to the trans-Pacific trade war, according to Vincent Clerc.

Sources anticipate the additional rerouting costs in the region will force other ocean carriers to follow suit on similar surcharges.

Stephen Carmel’s nomination to lead the agency comes after the White House withdrew previous nominee Brent Sadler from consideration for the post.

Interest in FTZs, where shippers can store goods while deferring the payment of duties, has increased dramatically since President Donald Trump implemented tariffs in April.

A swing from renewables to fossil fuels in the US and new opportunities for wind cargoes internationally could overhaul traditional MPV trade lanes over time.

In launching TruSygnal, Burns Logistics CEO Ed Burns wanted to provide a way to allow small carriers to create relationships with shippers that typically shy away from brokers.

With a “reintroduced” ground freight shipping option, UPS hopes to tempt LTL shippers seeking alternatives to LTL rates that are up 12% on average from mid-2023.

The restrictions have “effectively” made direct vessel calls to either Karachi or Port Qasim on India services operationally impossible, according to major container lines.

Rapidly growing occurrences of cargo theft in the US have compelled two early-stage technology companies to use data around truckload movements to assist law enforcement.

Paper and forest product exports climbed for the first time in more than five years in 2024, but various headwinds will challenge demand in 2025.

While the second quarter is typically strong for freight demand, the logistics provider said the market is far from normal after the Trump administration’s tariffs spooked its customers.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach complex, which handles about half of all US imports from Asia, is so far due to experience 59 blanked sailings between May 1 and June 30.

Lineage will acquire four existing warehouses in the US from Tyson and develop two other next-generation facilities where the food conglomerate will be the anchor tenant.

After getting the year off to a solid start in the first quarter, Jens Lund said the real work begins now to bring the two global forwarders together under the DSV brand.

It is the second acquisition this week by a CMA CGM subsidiary following CEVA Logistics’ takeover of Turkish forwarder Borusan Tedarik, with both deals aimed at extending the carrier’s end-to-end supply chain control.

Direct services to Asia and the EU have pulled more resin cargoes away from Houston, but the Gulf Coast is still the main route to the South American market.

Chartered flights from China to the US have been canceled and air freight traffic has declined as Washington prepares to scrap the duty-free exemption for low-value goods shipped from China and Hong Kong.

If regulatory approval is achieved, the deal will nearly double the size of CMA CGM subsidiary CEVA Logistics’ footprint in a rapidly expanding region.

Shippers and service providers say much of the project cargo industry dodged a bullet with the latest US fee proposal targeting Chinese-built ships.

Speakers at the conference in New Orleans agreed that recent volatility has yet to significantly slow projects or investments in the project cargo sector.

The award is less than the electronics giant sought in its complaint against Zim over detention and demurrage billing, a case that saw the judge chide Zim’s billing practices.

S&P Global’s Flash PMI for April, released Thursday, shows that economic output in the developed world hit its lowest point since 2023, boding poorly for container growth this year.

Carriers and importers are dealing with confusion over how tariffs in general, and the trade war between Washington and Beijing specifically, will affect commerce on the US’ busiest trade lane over the next 12 months.

US tariffs on China and the 90-day pause on tariffs imposed by Washington on a host of other countries made it difficult to assess how the market would develop this year, according to the forwarder’s CEO.

Amid the US-China trade dispute, inquiries for bonded storage north of the border have increased four-fold this month, according to one Canada-based third-party logistics provider.

Demand for light vehicles and components began 2025 on a sour note amid rising production costs, tariff uncertainty and projections for slower US economic growth.

HHG imports rose almost 20% in 2024, fueled in part by home remodeling, but US tariffs on China and Vietnam could reverse that gain.

US electronics imports are riding a wave of cyclical replacement, but tariffs could bring on an ebb tide.

Disruption caused by trade wars will reach deep into global supply chains, depressing an already uncertain outlook for the US freight economy.