The International Longshoreman Association's (ILA) contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) will expire on September 30, 2024, and without a new agreement, a strike could begin on October 1, 2024. This would have widespread impacts on ports along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast, which collectively handle over 50% of U.S. [...]
In a recent statement, over 200 organizations (Coalition) raised concerns with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson urging them to reconsider the potential impacts of the South coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) proposed Indirect Source Rule (ISR) for marine ports. These organizations represent national, [...]
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently announced that the U.S. is set to increase tariffs on a range of Chinese imports through phased hikes over the next several years. Starting September 27, 2024, tariffs on electric vehicles, EV batteries, solar cells, needles, syringes, face masks, critical [...]
The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced plans to tighten regulations on the de minimis exemption, a rule that allows goods valued at $800 or less to enter the United States without duties, taxes, or extensive documentation. These changes seek to curb the flow of duty-free textile and apparel imports from China. [...]
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) remain stymied in contract negotiations. This contract, originally signed in 2018, is set to expire on September 30, 2024. Shippers, vessel owners, importers, and exporters anxiously await resolution as both sides work toward a resolution while a threat [...]
COLOMBIAN TRUCKERS STRIKE, SET UP ROADBLOCKS IN PROTEST OF DIESEL FUEL HIKE Demonstrations, protests, and blockades ground the transportation industry to a near-halt in Colombia this week. Anger over a government price hike on diesel fuel triggered the labor unrest which included truckers going on strike and setting up blockades [...]
YANG MING CONTAINER BLAST An explosion rocked Yang Ming-owned container ship YM Mobility on Friday, August 9, 2024, at 1:40 PM local time. The blast occurred while the vessel was berthed at the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan. No casualties were reported and the cause of the blast is still under investigation. [...]
Earlier today the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced the introduction of a Long-Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) method for Neopanamax vessels. This initiative is part of the transit booking system that aims to enhance transit certainty and flexibility for shippers. Currently, the slot offering in the transit booking system is done [...]
PORT PROJECTS IN BALTIMORE AND OAKLAND PROPOSED On Monday, the House of Representatives approved by a vote of 359 to 13 the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA). This legislation will help fund navigational projects at the ports of Baltimore and Oakland. It allocates approximately $4.8 billion [...]
The IT outage on Friday, July 19, 2024, caused by a bug in a CrowdStrike software update, is considered the largest outage in history. CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity firm, offers a cloud-based software product called Falcon. The company pushed an update to Falcon, which interacts with Microsoft Windows products and [...]
