In the last blog, we began a chapter by chapter look at the new Phase One Trade Agreement with China. That post gave an introduction with background and looked at chapters 1-4 of the [...]
Though it seemed overshadowed in media coverage by shiny Nancy Pelosi pens, last week was a big news week for international trade. On Wednesday, January 15th, President Trump and China's chief [...]
No matter the industry, importing can be a valuable step to help your business grow and expand. Whether you currently import products or are looking to begin, there are many items to consider. [...]
Freight rates in the international shipping industry are always volatile, especially for small to medium shippers who play the spot market for their import and export pricing. There are many [...]
IMO 2020 went into effect on January 1st, requiring sea vessels, including container ships, to abide by a 0.5% sulfur cap on fuel or use scrubbers (systems that clean fuel in engines) in order to [...]
Growing businesses are continuously looking for ways to lower costs and streamline operations while reaching a wider market base. With the rapid expansion of global commerce, savvy businesses [...]
Being able to source high-quality, affordable products to sell to your customers is the lifeblood of all commerce. Without the ability to source products from a variety of reputable suppliers, [...]
The 15% tariff hikes on Chinese goods that were scheduled to hit Sunday (December 15th) didn't happen. Instead, we got the Phase One Trade Deal just days earlier. That's right, we finally have [...]
We're less than a month away from New Year's Day when some big rule changes are to be implemented on the international shipping industry: Incoterms 2020 and IMO 2020 go into effect on January [...]
2020 is less than a month away, and it's not an exaggeration to say it will be one of the most eventful new years the international shipping industry has ever seen. First, IMO 2020 goes into [...]
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world's second largest ocean freight carrier by capacity for the moment, put out a press release on Monday concerning its executive leadership: MSC [...]
In case anyone actually needed more evidence for the volatility of freight rates, ocean shipping prices just swung in the opposite direction again. After blogging just a week ago about a surge in [...]
This year, freight rates in the traditionally peak season months have behaved untraditionally. Instead of seeing higher freight rates, this peak season was full of falling freight rates. However, [...]
In March of 2015, I wrote a Universal Cargo blog post about how the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) should pay damages for what the union did at the Port of Portland. Today's [...]
The outlook on shipping through the Arctic is changing. And I'm not just talking about the changes in climate making shipping through the North Pole possible. Ocean freight carriers are coming [...]
Ocean carriers' biggest answer to meeting the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) upcoming 0.5% sulfur cap on fuel (IMO 2020) might not be the answer after all. Or better stated, it might [...]
Maersk predicted, a couple years ago, that carrier competition would shrink to just 3 global companies. Of course, Maersk is at the top of the list of carriers expected to be left if its [...]
It's probably not a good idea for a country you're fighting in a trade war to control one of your biggest ports. That's a situation that was set to happen because of COSCO Shipping's deal to buy [...]
Hagibis means speed in Tagalog — a fitting name for a super typhoon with winds of 160 miles per hour. Unfortunately, those winds are speeding toward one of the world's most populous cities, [...]