In the latest maritime bombshell coming out of Washington DC, the Federal Maritime Commission, the country’s shipping regulator, has warned it might bar entry to ships from countries found to be causing choke points at key locations around the world.
The FMC yesterday opened an investigation into transit constraints at international maritime chokepoints, particularly concerning the effects of the laws, regulations or practices of foreign governments, and the practices of owners or operators of foreign-flag vessels, on shipping conditions in these chokepoints.
The shipping passages under investigation are the English Channel, the Malacca Strait, the Northern Sea Passage, the Singapore Strait, the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Suez Canal.
“Remedial measures the Commission can take in issuing regulations to address conditions unfavourable to shipping in U.S. foreign trade include refusing entry to U.S. ports by vessels registered in countries responsible for creating unfavourable conditions,” the FMC warned yesterday.
In the 53 days since Donald Trump returned to power in the Washington DC, the global trading order has been torn up, with the new administration lashing out with tariffs, claims on the Panama Canal, and plans to charge Chinese-built ships calling in US among a string of policies that have unsettled world trade.
“As the Trump 2.0 reality show unfolds, as it does daily, often with singular market-moving tweets, we might as well suspend trying to make credible forecasts of future supply-demand balance across shipping sectors. Underwhelming spot earnings render shipping sentiment downbeat while we seek greater clarity on today’s geopolitical, trade and social threats,” noted a recent report from broker Hartland Shipping.
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