Global Trade & Economics

Shipping Container Crunch Shows Signs of Easing

January 26, 2021

Bloomberg

A global shortage of shipping containers that’s sent ocean freight rates skyrocketing shows signs of easing.

Shippers Saw a Need for Bigger Vessels, But They Built Them Too Big

January 24, 2021

Bloomberg

Here's why the cost of shipping goods out of China is soaring right now.

China’s Disputed Virus Theory Has Shoppers Shunning Foreign Food

January 22, 2021

Bloomberg

The World Health Organization has said there’s no evidence of people catching the coronavirus via food and food packaging, while China has taken increasingly drastic steps to test and halt imports.

VIDEO

Watch: Will We See Progress in Infrastructure Funding in 2021?

January 21, 2021

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

James H. Burnley IV, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and now a partner in the law firm of Venable LLP, weighs the chances for progress — at long last — on funding and construction of critical infrastructure projects under the new Biden Administration.

Brexit Border Trouble Grows as Key Customs System Maxes Out

January 20, 2021

Bloomberg

A key U.K. government customs system has been overwhelmed within weeks of Brexit and threatens to trigger more disruption as freight traffic rebounds.

Piracy Surge Off West Africa Draws Maersk Call for Action

January 18, 2021

Bloomberg

Pirate attacks have pushed up insurance and other costs for shippers operating off West Africa, with some resorting to hiring escort vessels manned by armed navy personnel.

How China Won Trump’s Trade War and Got Americans to Foot the Bill

January 13, 2021

Bloomberg

President Trump famously tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” in 2018 as he began to impose tariffs on about $360 billion of imports from China. Turns out he was wrong on both counts.

VIDEO

Watch: How U.S. Trade Policy Will Change in the Biden Administration

January 7, 2021

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Damon Pike, international tax principal and leader of the customs and international trade practice of BDO, discusses what are likely to be the differences and similarities between the Trump and Biden administrations’ approaches toward trade.

Brexit Is a New World Businesses Still Need to Figure Out

January 3, 2021

Bloomberg

British businesses probably didn’t expect to start 2021 worrying about wooden pallets after a year of grappling with the coronavirus and a meltdown in the economy.