From 2016 through ’19, things were prime,
Three-quarters of ships docked on time.
A respectable feat,
Though not quite elite,
Still steady compared with today’s climb.

Then Covid arrived with dismay,
Reliability sank to 35% gray.
Service went slack,
Schedules fell off the track,
And cargo just drifted away.

By ’23 hope had returned,
Though half the arrivals still burned.
Blank sailings were rife,
The Red Sea brought strife,
As Houthi alarms left us spurned.

But Q2 of ’25 gave cheer,
At 66%—best in two years!
Tariff-pause demand,
And Gemini’s hand,
Helped steady the lines somewhat near.

Alas, poor Gemini’s reign,
Sought “world domination” in vain.
For rivals improved,
And the baseline was moved,
So their glory was shaded again.

Yet airlines still manage the sky,
At 77% they fly high.
Japan’s trains boast 99,
Even subways hold the line,
While ships just keep asking us “why?”

But doctors, bless all that they do,
Are tardier still, it is true.
At 0.1% right (?),
Their timeliness slight—
So carriers beat someone. Woohoo!

• The so-called “peak season” peaked too soon. Tariffs turned the traditional July–September surge into a June–July sprint, leaving August looking more meh than maxed-out. Importers rushed, shelves got stuffed, and the air went out of the peak before it even had time to huff and puff.
• Rates, meanwhile, are falling faster than an anchor. On the US West Coast, boxes dropped to $1,850/FEU, with smaller carriers practically paying shippers to come aboard. Europe fared no better—rates slid below $3,000, and Gemini is dangling $2,100–$2,300/FEU just to keep its shiny new ships from sailing half-empty. The East Coast? An uninspired $2,800/FEU, hardly peak-season poetry.
• But the real drama is over-supply déjà vu. Carriers’ capacity eyes may have been bigger than their demand bellies after the recent ship-buying binge. A whopping 31.7% of the future fleet now on order—the biggest spree since 2010, which famously ended with a decade-long hangover. This year alone, 1 million TEU of fresh capacity hits the water, flooding a market that already feels swamped.
• What would the carriers do without the Red Sea Crisis diminishing effective capacity?! Surely, they can’t blank 100% of their sailings?!
• Alliances are playing very different scripts. The Ocean Alliance is blanking up to a quarter of its Europe sailings, trying to balance the books by cutting capacity. The Gemini Cooperation (Maersk + Hapag) insists on “no blanks, no excuses,” which keeps reliability high but drags rates ever lower.
• Hapag-Lloyd itself is caught in the crosscurrent. Volumes climbed 11% to 6.7 million TEU, revenues swelled to $10.6 billion, but profits slipped as Red Sea detours and Gemini network costs chewed through margins. Its 2025 EBITDA forecast of $2.8–$3.8 billion is really just a polite way of saying: “expect the unexpected.”
• On the eco-front, greener ships are coming in waves, but they’re anything but cheap. Hapag has wrapped up its fleet of twelve LNG-fueled megaships and is plotting ammonia- and methanol-ready vessels, with five retrofits on deck for next year.
• The bottom line? Too many ships, too few boxes, and tariffs sprouting like weeds. If 2025 is a maritime melodrama, 2026 may finally bring the pause between acts—once deliveries slow and carriers catch their breath.

• Publication & Effective Dates
  • Final Rule: Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR): Clarification of Filing Requirements Regarding In-Transit Shipments and Other FTR Provisions.
  • Issued in the Federal Register on August 14, 2025.
  • Effective September 15, 2025.
• USPPI Identification & Responsibilities
  • The term “Address of the USPPI” has been renamed “Address of Origin.”
  • Clarifies who may serve as the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI): a customs broker, or an operator of a warehouse, storage facility, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), or bonded warehouse.
  • If goods are imported by a broker/foreign person and exported without change within 30 calendar days, the broker/agent may act as USPPI but must obtain importer of record consent when using entry data for EEI filing (per 19 CFR 111.24).
  • After 30 days, USPPI responsibilities shift to the warehouse or facility operator that has control of the goods at export.
  • When a warehouse, storage facility, FTZ, or bonded warehouse is the USPPI, it must file EEI based on the information it has or receives from other parties.
  • The authorized agent must file EEI exactly as provided by the USPPI.
• Data & Entry Requirements
  • Bonded warehouse entries: Entry number required; USPPI must provide the e11 position entry number if the forwarder was not the broker at import.
  • FTZ exports: Must report the 9-digit in-bond serial number associated with the removal.
  • DEA-controlled chemicals: Exports requiring a DEA Form 486 must include DEA information with EEI filings.
• Definitions & Data Elements
  • One definition added, one removed, and 19 revised for greater accuracy and consistency.
  • Revised list of required information for USPPI and authorized agents in routed export transactions.
  • Clarifies filing requirements for specific data elements, AES downtime, confidentiality, penalties, and voluntary self-disclosures.
• Voluntary Self-Disclosures (VSDs)
  • VSDs may not be submitted by an FPPI, its legal counsel, or any party representing an FPPI.
  • Filers must be physically located in the U.S. when filing EEI.
• General FTR Impacts
  • Updates affect multiple sections of the Foreign Trade Regulations, including: mandatory filing requirements, party responsibilities, confidentiality provisions, penalties, and VSD procedures.
  • Appendix C to Part 30 provides detailed responsibilities for USPPIs and authorized agents in routed transactions.
• Resources & Contact
  • Read the full changes here (effective Sept. 15, 2025).
  • Census Bureau Trade Regulations Branch: (800) 549-0595; or [email protected].

• Effective August 19, 2025, de minimis duty-free treatment will no longer apply to shipments entering the U.S. that are not covered by 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b) (including those through international mail).
• This stems from Executive Order 14324 (July 30, 2025): Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.
• The 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) exemption is now suspended—meaning no shipment (outside of the limited 50 U.S.C. 1702(b) carve-out) qualifies for duty-free status, regardless of value, country of origin, transportation mode, or entry method.
• All such shipments—except those through the international postal network—will be subject to all applicable duties, taxes, fees, exactions, and charges.
• Entry Filing: For shipments that would have previously qualified under de minimis, entry must now be filed in ACE under the correct entry type, by a party authorized to make entry.
• For detailed compliance instructions specific to international mail, please refer directly to CSMS #65934463.
• Like the song says—every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Shapiro’s compliance team is here to help you adjust to the “end” of de minimis duty-free and guide you through the new entry requirements. Reach us at [email protected] for expert support.

• Starting Monday, August 18, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has rolled out a hefty upgrade to import rules. The catch? If your product contains any steel, iron, or aluminum—think nails, brackets, pulleys, stamped parts—you’ve got a new homework assignment at the border.
• What’s New at Customs HQ?
  • Declare the country where the metal was actually smelted or cast—no guessing games allowed.
  • State the weight of the metal inside your product.
  • Declare the dollar value of that metal content.
  • No in-transit exemptions: even cargo currently on the high seas must comply or risk headaches at arrival.
• As of August 18, import rules took a hard left turn: 407 additional product categories—from wind turbines to furniture to heavy equipment—now face 50% tariffs on their steel and aluminum components.
• If you don’t break down the parts, CBP might just tax the entire item value—ouch. So, if you don’t want a surprise bill, you’d better know your metal value.
• Don’t let another update pass you by! Sign-up to receive our complimentary Shap Flash alerts in real-time—or bookmark our Trump’s Trade Tariff Updates page.

• After a week-long strike that grounded operations since August 16, Air Canada has reached a deal with flight attendants.
• Flights are resuming as of August 19, but don’t expect normal service right away—it could take 7–10 days for crews and planes to get back in sync. Cargo volumes took a major hit, with 75% at risk of delay.
• The Port Authority of NY & NJ just broke ground on a project to triple truck parking at JFK by 2026. With cargo up 25% since 2019, trucks have been spilling into neighborhood streets, annoying locals.  (Fahgettaboutit, like they aren’t ALWAYS annoyed??!!)
• The new facility will fit 100 more rigs, add 35 EV charging stations, and demolish a long-abandoned food prep building (RIP, Building 110). Net result: smoother cargo flow, greener trucks, and fewer cranky Queens residents.
• Thanks to new U.S. tariffs, some cargo that used to fly is now going by ship. Why? If you can wait 21 days by ocean instead of 3–5 days by air, you’ll dodge hefty costs. The numbers are brutal:
  • U.S. air cargo volumes through May: down 25% year-over-year.
  • Since May 2 (when the de minimis exemption ended): China–U.S. cargo down nearly 60% some weeks.
  • E-commerce bookings? Down 50%!

• UP vs. the Highway: Union Pacific (UP) is rolling out a new expedited service from SoCal’s Inland Empire to Chicago starting Sept. 3. The lane is 20% faster than current rail options and aims to lure time-sensitive freight off the highways. Think of it as “Amtrak for cargo,” but ummm…on-time and without that weird smell and AWFUL bathrooms!
• UP’s New Surcharge Surprise: Starting Aug. 17, low-volume shippers (under 500 loads/year) face a $500/container surcharge if they exceed allocations; high-volume shippers get dinged $300 starting Aug. 24. With intermodal volumes climbing double digits since July 4, UP is clearly saying, “stay in your lane—or pay.”
• BNSF Goes Big in Salt Lake: BNSF cut the ribbon on a 43-acre terminal in Salt Lake City (July 31). The new intermodal service links Northern and Southern California ports to Utah, offering importers/exporters an alternative to pricey long-haul drayage.
• Cool Cargo Gets a Boost: Americold and CPKC teamed up on a $127M cold-storage facility in Kansas City, MO. The USDA will pre-clear Mexico-bound perishables here, skipping border inspections. Bonus: heavier-than-highway-limit loads can ride the rails, saving shippers money while keeping that Midwestern cheddar fresh.
• New Jersey’s AB5 Déjà Vu: Lawmakers are revisiting the “ABC test” for classifying workers, which upended California’s trucking scene in 2019. This time, even drayage carriers are speaking out, warning of economic fallout for port truckers. Cue the déjà vu soundtrack.
• Outpost’s Gatekeeper Tech: Truck-yard startup Outpost launched an AI-powered gate system that scans trucks, drivers, and trailer seals before deciding who gets in.
• TRAC’s Chassis Challenge: TRAC Intermodal introduced “GeoFleet,” a hybrid pricing model: pay a flat daily rate for half your leased chassis, and usage-based fees for the other half, tracked by GPS. Use it once a month? Pay once. Use it 20 times? Pay 20. Competitor DCLI doesn’t match the plan but highlights tire upgrades and premium pools instead.   THIS is the thanks Shapiro gives DCLI for being a great panelist at our annual supply chain summer seminar!