international shipping news

When I first started writing about international shipping more than 15 years ago, a rollercoaster was the best metaphor to describe the industry, with its volatile, up-and-down freight rates for [...]

Halted Strikes on Iran Today could have been a day of war escalation. President Trump posted on Truth Social that there was a military attack on Iran scheduled, but he held it off at the request [...]

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled against the Trump Administration’s usage of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to implement a broad 10% tariff on imports to the U.S. President [...]

U.S. Started Assisting Ships to Cross the Strait of Hormuz this Week While Star Wars nerds, like me, were saying “May the 4th be with you,” family and friends of crew members and [...]

Ocean freight rates have been elevated since the start of the Iran War. However, as we’ve covered in Universal Cargo’s blog, international shipping’s capacity is not stretched [...]

It’s estimated the government owes shippers somewhere between $166 billion and $182 billion in tariff refunds due to the Supreme Court ruling against the Trump Administration’s use of [...]

Last week, we blogged on the opening of the Hormuz Strait, but with the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran feeling tenuous and Iran warning of possible mines in the water and [...]

With the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Iran has reopened the Strait of Hormuz, but shipping traffic through it is reportedly at a trickle. According to a Reuters article by [...]

Steel, Aluminum, Copper Tariffs Tariff changes on steel, aluminum, and copper went into effect yesterday (April 6th). President Trump issued a proclamation late last week, modifying Section 232 [...]

It’s time to look at what’s happening with freight rates. Whenever there’s a disaster, crisis, or disruption to a major shipping hub, freight rates are impacted. Usually, that [...]

Oil Prices Outlook Oil has always been a large factor in international shipping costs. The Iran War, with the closure of the Straight of Hormuz, effectively cut off shipping access through the [...]

Yesterday (Monday, March 24th), the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said no to carriers requesting waiver of the 30-day notice period before hitting shippers with fees related to the Iran War. [...]

Trump Orders Government to Cover Persian Gulf Shipping In Tuesday’s blog about the impacts of the Iran War on international shipping, we brought up insurance, specifically marine insurers [...]

The Iran War significantly impacts international shipping in the immediate present and potentially long-term future. If the immediate impact was summed up with one word, it would be [...]

Competition on the waters of international shipping looks to be shrinking again as the world’s fifth-largest ocean freight carrier, Hapag-Lloyd, made a buyout deal yesterday to acquire the [...]

Universal Cargo presents the Cantankerous Journeys of Cramer the Container! This funny new YouTube series follows the misadventures of Cramer the Container as he experiences and witnesses all the [...]

2025 is drawing to a close, and that means it’s time to look back at the Top 10 Universal Cargo blog posts of the year! It’s always a fun exercise to count down the top 10 – David [...]

Trump Threatens 5% Tariff Hike on Mexico Over It Failing to Deliver on Water Treaty Promises On Monday, President Trump threatened a 5% tariff on Mexico if it doesn’t comply with the [...]

Are the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden attacks over? News broke this week indicating they’ve stopped, which has enormous implications for international shipping. No Attacks Since Peace Deal Since [...]

Next month, large fees on Chinese-built ships calling on U.S. ports goes into effect. They’re not going to be as enormous as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer initially [...]