The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has proposed new restrictions after Spain denied port access to certain U.S.-flagged vessels. The proposal would impose a $200,000 fee each time a Spanish-flagged vessel enters a U.S. port and restrict certain imports from Spain, including olive oil, sugar and confectionery, perfumery and cosmetics, articles of stone, and ceramics.
On October 15, 2026, Tenaris USA, Vallourec Star LP, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (collectively Petitioners), filed petitions for the imposition of antidumping duties on seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line, and pressure pipe (SSLPP) from Georgia and India and countervailing duties on imports from India.
On October 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License No. 135, “Authorizing Transactions Related to the Sale, Delivery, Offloading, and Importation of Diesel Fuel of Russian Federation Origin,” temporarily easing sanctions on Russian diesel. The move followed discussions between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir
In July 2026, in Peyton v. Lupus, a $604 million case arising from a fatal 2021 multi-vehicle collision in Mississippi, a jury in Dallas County, Texas found freight broker C.H. Robinson and Lupus Superior, LLC, the motor carrier that employed the driver, liable.
Unlike the post-Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II case addressing broker
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a rule clarifying how Charge Complaints under 46 U.S.C. § 41310 may be filed. Shippers are not limited to the FMC’s no-fee interim email process. They may also pursue Charge Complaints through the commission’s traditional formal or small claims complaint procedures. No matter which route is used, complaints
In response to rapidly developing El Niño conditions, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has reduced maximum vessel draft limits. The situation may get worse next year, so shippers with Canal-dependent trade lanes should take mitigating steps now before conditions deteriorate further.
The ACP has already imposed five successive draft reductions as vessel backlogs continue to
On August 13, 2026, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released a report identifying more than 40 countries it characterizes as presenting an elevated risk of illegal transshipment of Chinese-origin goods into the United States. The report also states that an artificial-intelligence-driven enforcement tool, referred to as “Detective Border,” is under development to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in detecting and interdicting such shipments.
Since the May 2026 Supreme Court decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, four federal district courts have taken up the question of whether its safety exception applies to cargo theft claims, and they have all decided no.
Taken together, these decisions reflect a shared rationale that cargo theft amounts to “deception-induced deprivation
After the May 2026 Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, one critical question remained unanswered: whether the safety exception extends to cargo theft and property loss claims. Three recent federal district court decisions have determined that it does not. These rulings provide much needed clarity on how to distinguish property
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced on June 18, 2026 that the chief engineer aboard the M/V Dali at the time of the March 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge allision has entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the United States in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation arising from