Market Update
Ocean and air freight rates and trends; customs and trade industry news plus COVID-19 impacts for the week of August 19, 2020.
How will demand recover from COVID-19? And how can you ensure your cargo is moving to keep up with it? Visit Flexport’s COVID-19 Trade Insights for information and analysis.
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Oil Tankers Idle Off China A glut of oil leaves tankers floating outside northern Chinese ports, causing severe congestion. The Wall Street Journal reports approximately 80 ships have waited a month or more to make deliveries, while others act as floating storage until oil prices rise.
Platoon Trucks Make Debut Delivery A synced platoon of trucks made the first commercial delivery ever, carrying toilet paper and other goods from Portland, Oregon to Nampa, Idaho. FreightWaves explains that platooning links trucks, led by a driver, and is a step towards autonomous vehicles. In this case, the platoon was engaged autonomously for about half the trip.
Meanwhile, this week, Flexport Chief Economist Dr. Phil Levy noted the following economic highlights:
Section 301 Updates
Suggested Certificate of Origin Template CBP posted a CSMS message with suggested templates for a certificate of origin under the US-Japan and the USMCA agreements. This was shared as a fillable PDF, but there is no mandatory format as long as the required data elements are captured.
CBP Fines Importer for Forced Labor CBP issued a press release that it has collected a fine of $575,000 from an importer using forced labor. CBP found that the importer had been using prison labor for at least 20 of their shipments of stevia out of China. This was the first forced-labor penalty issued since TFTEA was passed in 2015.
For a roundup of tariff-related news, visit Tariff Insider.
Please note that the information in our publications is compiled from a variety of sources based on the information we have to date. This information is provided to our community for informational purposes only, and we do not accept any liability or responsibility for reliance on the information contained herein.
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