Air freight:
Late Thursday (March 20th), London’s Heathrow Airport experienced a fire, causing a power outage and leading to a complete shutdown, the JOC reports. Impacting both freight and passenger services. Service has since returned, the airport said in an online update.
— In an FMC notice, they announce plans to launch a probe into seven maritime choke points: English Channel, the Malacca Strait, the Northern Sea Passage, the Singapore Strait, the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.
The FMC will look to identify whether their might be unfavorable conditions for shipping in U.S. foreign trades, and if additional FMC action is merited.
Tariffs:
— The Canada/Mexico tariffs that went into effect March 6th have since been paused until April 2nd, under President Trump’s executive order. This applies to imports covered by the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, which accounts for approximately 50% of goods from Mexico and 38% from Canada, according to NBC News.
— Steel/Aluminum: New tariffs on steel and aluminum have gone into effect as of March 12th at 12:01am EST.
— Port of Los Angeles cargo volume in February held firm. According to their March 19th news release, they processed 801,398 TEUs – an increase of 2.5% from last year.
— Another USWC port that saw growth in February was the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA – Seattle and Tacoma). February imports increased by 27.9% and exports decreased by 7.7%, according to an NWSA news release. All container volume (international/domestic) in February reached 257,705 TEUs – a 13.7% increase compared to the same period last year.
— On the USEC, the Georgia Ports Authority reported that they moved 479,850 TEUs in February, a 6% increase from the same time last year.