Congress to debate amending US Shipping Act next month
July 19, 2021 Port of Long Beach Across Washington DC there’s ever greater scrutiny of the operations of the world’s container shipping companies, who are on track to post their greatest ever year of profits. Ten days ago president Joe Biden issued an executive order to address competition in shipping, tapping the Federal Maritime Commission…
FEPORT welcomes the “Fit for 55” proposals but underlines the need to acknowledge and support the efforts of port stakeholders
Brussels, July 15th, 2021 FEPORT welcomes Commission’s “Fit for 55” proposals as a necessary step to meet the EU’s enhanced climate targets[1] in a holistic way but underlines the need to acknowledge and support the efforts of port stakeholders to decarbonize the maritime sector. FEPORT members have already long ago turned their commitment to sustainability into action and…
Shipping reacts as EU splinters global environmental regulations
July 15, 2021 The European Commission on Wednesday proposed adding shipping to the bloc’s carbon market for the first time, a move international shipping has been bracing for for a number of years. Under the EU plan, shipping would be added to the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) gradually from 2023 and phased in…
EU emissions trading for shipping highlights Europe and global shipowner divide
The announcement of the EU’s new climate plan yesterday including paving the way for shipping to be part of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) highlighted the gulf between European and the wider international community of shipowners on tackling the issue. Marcus Hand | Jul 15, 2021 The EU’s “Fit for 55” climate package announced on…
Biden administration creates strike force to go after China trade
THE Biden administration has created a strike force to go after China on trade, a force that will look for specific violations that created a hollowing out of supply chains, reports Reuters. US officials declared the Department of Commerce was considering initiating a Section 232 investigation into the national security impact of neodymium magnet…
Biden executive order could bring more scrutiny to rising container shipping costs
The US government took aim at the ocean shipping industry in a sweeping executive order President Joe Biden signed July 9 that also targeted anti-competitive practices in the healthcare, internet service, and agribusiness sectors. The executive order specifically encourages the US Federal Maritime Commission “to ensure vigorous enforcement against shippers charging American exporters exorbitant charges,”…
US Maritime, Justice Agencies to Partner on Antitrust Issues
The United States Federal Maritime Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division on Monday agreed to boost cooperation and communication in their respective oversight and enforcement responsibilities of the ocean liner shipping industry. FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei and Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers signed the first-ever interagency memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the…
Biden administration targets lines over detention and demurrage
Shipping is again in the cross-hairs – this time the liner business has attracted the attention of the Biden administration, in response to complaints from importers and cargo interests regarding detention and demurrage charges. Barry Parker | Jul 12, 2021 In a wide-ranging Executive Order from 9 July on the subject of “Promoting Competition in…
Challenge over Northern Ireland protocol quashed in court
NORTHERN Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster contended that pro-EU ruling by a Belfast court is incompatible with the UK’s constitution under the Acts of Union. This after a Belfast judge quashed a lawsuit challenging the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol in a boost for UK and European Union negotiators hours before they were to announce…
Biden to Take Aim at Shipping Competition
U.S. President Joe Biden (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) President Joe Biden will soon order U.S. transportation agencies to crack down on anti-competitive conduct and unjust fees in the rail and sea shipping industries to try to lower costs to consumers, the White House said on Thursday. It said his executive order is…
Baltic call for unity against China means little: Beijing's Global Times
THE European Union (EU)’s general cooperative attitude toward China will not be affected by Lithuania’s “disharmonious voices of urging more EU unity on China”, which it claims is an “unfair competitor” and a “systemic rival,” reports Beijing’s Global Times. The Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis suggested in a Politico report that the Franco-German lead…
US-China trade war goes on as Biden pursues same old Trump policies
US President Joe Biden has continued the hostile China trade policies of the much vilified former president Donald Trump, reports Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. Three years after the US and China began a tit-for-tat trade war, the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration remain in place under President Biden, said the SCMP.…
China lags behind on pact targets
A REPORT by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) shows that China was more than 30 per cent short of its 2021 commitments under the phase one trade deal with the US during the first five months of the year. Under the deal signed in January 2020, China is committed to buying a…
US Senators agree to slimmed-down US$1.2 trillion infrastructure plan
THE US Senate has struck an agreement for a US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in what could herald a legislative victory for President Joe Biden, reports the BBC. “We have a deal,” said the presdient after meeting with cross-party group of seantors at the White House. Calling the deal “a true bipartisan effort”, Mr Biden…
Fix 'border' issues created by Northern Ireland Protocol, or trade will collapse
© Tanaonte By Alex Whiteman 21/06/2021 To stave off a collapse in trade, UK politicians must set aside party squabbles and explain the functions, remit and which elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol can be renegotiated. A parliamentary post-mortem into the negotiation and implementation of the protocol began this month, with academics, politicians, and those involved…
Russia’s State Duma passes bill on obligations of investors in seaports
The law has been drafted by the Ministry of Transport At its meeting held on 17 June 2021, the State Duma of the Russian Federation passed in the third reading the draft law on introduction of amendments into the Federal Law “On Seaports of the Russian Federation” and on introduction of amendments into certain legislative…
Oz hesitates to join west in imposing new sanctions on Beijing
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Scott Morrison has yet to pull the trigger on legislation that would allow his government to join allies in imposing coordinated sanctions against officials from the country’s largest trading partner, reports Bloomberg. When asked why the government hadn’t introduced the bill, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said: “The government will continue…
US Congressmen want to require carriers to load US exports
News16 Jun 2021by Paul Avery Two US Congressmen are drafting legislation that would require carriers to make containers available for US exporters. At a US House Transport & Infrastructure Committee hearing on “the Impacts of Shipping Container Shortages and Increased Demand on the North American Supply Chain,” committee member and California Congressman John Garamendi announced work…
US and EU to end Trump's US$18 billion tariff fight
EUROPEAN UNION leaders and US President Joe Biden will end outstanding trade battles, promising to remove tariffs related to a steel and aluminum conflict before the end of the year, reports Bloomberg. Part of the discussion includes a two-decade-old aircraft dispute next month that came to a head under the Trump administration and contributed…
Biden effect may shake up UK-EU 'stalemate' over Northern Ireland protocol
Photo 142993093 © Shawn Williams | Dreamstime.com By Alexander Whiteman 11/06/2021 Supply chain insiders have demanded EU and UK negotiators resolve the tensions surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol. Concerns have been growing over a “stalemate” between EU and UK negotiators around the implementation of the protocol, with sources within the EU saying it was growing increasingly…
White House readies supply chain disruptions task force
June 10, 2021 Port of Los Angeles A report issued this week by the White House, Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth, recommends strengthening international trade rules and trade-enforcement mechanisms; working with allies and partners to decrease vulnerabilities in global supply chains; and monitoring near term supply chain disruptions through…
White House prohibits US investment in 59 Chinese companies, including shipbuilders and energy firms
June 4, 2021 US President Joe Biden signed an executive order that prohibits US investments in Chinese companies that “undermine the security or democratic values of the United States and [its] allies.” This order is intended to “address the ongoing national emergency …with respect to the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People’s…
FEPORT: Strategic or not strategic, that is the question
In recent written exchanges between a group of organizations of the waterborne sector and the EU Commission, the strategic dimension of the ecosystem has been underlined and acknowledged by both parties. This being said, many organizations of the waterborne remain concerned by the lack of representation of their industries in a number of important platforms…
US and China trade officials held 'candid, pragmatic' first talks of Biden era
THE US and China’s top trade negotiators have held “candid, pragmatic” talks, in their first meeting under the Biden presidency, with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in a virtual meeting to discuss matters, the BBC reported . Both sides said they discussed the importance of the trade relationship…
How OFAC’s sanctions advisory is changing the maritime industry for good
May 31, 2021 Simon Ring from Pole Star on how shipping has had to respect sanctions compliance over the past year. When OFAC, the US State Department and the US Coastguard issued their long-awaited maritime sanctions advisory a year ago, it was a landmark moment. The guidance was the first to target the wider maritime…
US needs new trade rules, says new US Trade Representative
AMERICA needs new legal tools to combat China threats, says US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Reuters reports. Ms Tai told US lawmakers that existing trade laws seek to protect US firms after they have already been harmed, rather than anticipating and preventing damage. New tools could lay the groundwork for future new tariffs to…