Us Exports News

Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Guy Platten, testified before the U.S. Trade Representative Section 301 Committee in Washington, D.C., regarding concerns around potential unintended consequences that could result from the proposed remedies following the Committee’s investigation into China’s maritime logistics and shipbuilding. The public hearing took place over two days, Monday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 26, 2025, with over 60 witnesses delivering testimonies in person.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) supports the goal of strengthening U.S.

A Trump administration proposal aimed at reviving the U.S. shipbuilding industry may backfire by imposing steep fees on China-linked vessels—penalties that industry leaders say would hurt American ship operators and ports rather than help them, industry executives said at U.S. Trade Representative hearings on Monday.At issue are proposed, stacking fees on China-built vessels that could top $3 million per U.S. port call. The Trump administration says the fees would curb China's growing commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote domestically built vessels. U.S.

Cargo movements into and out of the United States could be re-shaped by proposals to levy fees on port calls by Chinese built or operated vessels, as well as potential sanctions based on whether the operator controls ships built in China or has tonnage on order there.In its Q1 2025 Dry Bulk Market Report, Maritime Strategies International (MSI) noted that as currently envisaged, the rules provide little clarity but could have a significant potential impact on North American dry bulk trades.

U.S. President Donald Trump's push to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding is finding rare bipartisan support from Americans, with 72% saying the U.S. cannot remain dependent on China and other foreign producers to build ships, a poll released Friday showed.The survey of 2,204 adults, conducted by Morning Consult for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) on March 10-12, showed strong concern about China's grip on the $150 billion global ocean shipping industry, and the negative national security implications for the United States.Only 11% said the U.S.

The China Shipowners' Association opposes a U.S. proposal to slap hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.U.S. President Donald Trump's administration aims to partially pay for an American shipbuilding comeback with those fees, according to a draft executive order seen by Reuters.The CSA's members include China's COSCO Shipping, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by the fees proposed by the U.S.

On February 21, 2025, the Office of the US Trade Representative (UST) released a notice of a proposal to impose wide-ranging fees on shipping companies and vessels with a Chinese nexus. The USTR has yet to release regulatory or administrative language that implements the proposals, and there is no guarantee this will actually happen. Interested parties should consider submitting comments as well as reviewing their charterparty and other relevant agreementsSUMMARY OF USTR PROPOSALSThe USTR notice does not set forth a single unified scheme of fees…

The U.S. Trade Representative's office has proposed charging up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports as part of its investigation into China's growing domination of the global shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.USTR said in a January 16 report on a probe launched during the administration of former President Joe Biden that China increased its share of global shipbuilding tonnage from 5% in 1999 to over 50% in 2023 because of massive state subsidies…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama during his first overseas trip in the post, a source told Reuters on Thursday, as President Donald Trump makes a push for the United States to take back the Panama Canal that has angered the Central American country.Rubio is expected to depart on Jan. 31 and travel during the first week of February, making additional stops in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador, according to the source who was familiar with the plans.Planning for the trip is still ongoing and the itinerary is subject to change…

Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Energy Department, will tell U.S. senators in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday his first priority is expanding domestic energy production including liquefied natural gas and nuclear power.Wright, 59, believes fossil fuels are the key to ending world poverty, which is a greater problem than climate change's "distant" threat, according to a report he wrote as CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy LBRT.N.Wright supports some fossil fuel alternatives…

President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage.After the event, he posted an image on Truth Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water, with the comment: "Welcome to the United States Canal!""Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?" Trump said at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group.

Oil prices eased about 1% to a one-week low on Tuesday on demand worries following the release of negative economic news from Germany and China, while investors remained cautious ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates.Brent futures fell 90 cents, or 1.2%, to $73.01 a barrel by 1:36 p.m. EST (1836 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $69.85. That puts both crude benchmarks on track for their lowest closes since Dec. 10 and cut the premium of Brent over WTI to a 12-week low of $3.56 a barrel, based on the February contracts.Analysts have said when Brent's premium over WTI falls below $4 a barrel, it does not make economic sense for energy firms to send ships to pick up U.S. crude, which should result in lower U.S.

The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead. Residents are divided: some do not want to leave, while others are focused on getting fair compensation if they are forced to move.

The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead. Residents are divided: some do not want to leave, while others are focused on getting fair compensation if they are forced to move.

Liquefied natural gas shipping rates have hit multi-year lows and may extend losses going into 2025, analysts and shipping sources said, with new tankers being added at a faster rate than LNG production is rising and spot demand still tepid.New LNG tankers, built in anticipation of rising U.S. exports after a plunge in Russian gas supplies to Europe in 2022, are coming online earlier than liquefaction projects, which have been delayed amid inflation from strong wage growth and a shortage of skilled labour and equipment.With more ships expected to come…

U.S. soybean export premiums are at their highest in 14 months, as grain merchants race to ship out a record-large U.S. harvest ahead of the U.S. presidential election and fears of renewed trade tensions with top importer China, traders and analysts said.Nearly 2.5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans were inspected for export last week, including almost 1.7 million tons bound for China, the most in a year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Monday.But while this export flurry is a bright spot for U.S.

VesselsValue has released its Q4 2024 Market Outlook indicating a forecast period up to 2027 which suggests a mixed outlook across different vessel types.The company anticipates that orders for bulkers and tankers will gain momentum, while demand for containers and LNG/LPG vessels will decline. Despite the expected rise in bulker and tanker orders, the overall orderbook will likely shrink due to a surge in deliveries for container and gas vessels.Geopolitical tensions, such as the Houthi attacks in the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, are creating both risks and opportunities for shipping.

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas fell slightly in September as plant maintenance trimmed output, while Europe remained the leading destination, data from financial firm LSEG showed.Gulf Coast plants escaped any major impact from hurricanes last month, helping the U.S. to retain its status as the world's largest LNG exporter.Exports of the superchilled gas fell to 7.26 million metric tons in September, just down from August, when the U.S. sold 7.48 MT, LSEG data showed.U.S.

Low water conditions have led to several barges running aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard told Reuters on Wednesday, just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.Low water levels are slowing export-bound barge shipments of grain and oilseeds from the Midwest farm belt for a third straight year, making U.S. exports less competitive in a world market awash in supplies - just as farmers are set to harvest a record soy and large corn crop and as prices hover near four-year lows.The U.S.

U.S. regulators are investigating potential unfair trade practices within pending Canadian regulations governing ballast water management systems of ships in the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes trade.The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Tuesday said it launched the probe to determine if the pending regulations have a disparate effect on U.S. flagged vessels and constitute a Foreign Shipping Practices violation under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 423.U.S.-based companies operating ships in the…

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell for a fourth consecutive month to 6.19 million metric tons in April from 7.61 million in March on production outages, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG showed on Wednesday.Recurring mechanical problems have hit Freeport LNG, the second largest U.S. plant by capacity. Last month, the Quintana, Texas, terminal exported five cargoes for a total of 330,000 tons, compared to 21 cargoes and 1.42 million tons in December.Since mid-January, the plant has been operating without at least one of its three gas-processing trains.

Since the European Union sanctioned Russian oil exports in 2022, crude oil and dirty and clean petroleum products (CPP) have found new buyers. “India and China have taken most of the crude oil and dirty products while Turkey and Brazil have emerged as the main buyers of CPP. Year-to-date, Brazil’s import of Russian CPP has increased by 135% year-on-year,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Historically, the US has been the main supplier of CPP to Brazil, accounting for about 50% of all Brazilian CPP imports.

U.S. liquefied natural gas exports hit monthly and annual record highs in December, tanker tracking data showed, with analysts saying it positioned the United States to leapfrog Qatar and Australia to become the largest exporter of LNG in 2023.The U.S. was the stand out in global LNG supply growth in 2023, said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG research at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group of the rise to 8.6 million metric tons leaving U.S. terminals in December.Qatar was the largest LNG exporter in 2022 and Australia the second-largest that year, U.S. government data showed."U.S.

A key stretch of the lower Mississippi River dropped this week to within inches of its lowest-ever level and is expected to remain near historic lows just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway, according to the National Weather Service.Low water has slowed hauling of export-bound corn and soybean barges over recent weeks as shippers lightened loads to prevent vessels from running aground and reduced the number of barges they haul at one time to navigate a narrower shipping channel.The water woes come at the worst possible time for U.S.