Historian | Author | Economist
On May 19, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of four Chinese manufacturers of steel shipping containers and six of their executives for violations of antitrust law. Between 2019 and 2024, the indictment alleges, the companies and their executives conspired to limit container production and fix prices. Their conspiracy, the government contends, “affected [ ]
President Trump s much-heralded visit to Beijing appears to have gone less than swimmingly. One reason seems to be that China believes the United States is in decline. It shows no hurry to strike deals with a country whose power it perceives to be diminishing even as its own is increasing. According to news reports, Chinese [ ]
A couple of weeks ago, I was in London for the annual meeting of the Business History Conference, a professional group I ve been involved with for many years. Nothing out of the ordinary: many BHC members live in other countries, and we typically assemble outside the United States every fourth or fifth year. All went [ ]
The U.S. attack on Iran has diverted attention from the tariffs the United States has applied liberally since Donald Trump took office in January 2025. While tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were overturned by the Supreme Court in February, those imposed under other laws remain in place. Last week, the U.S. [ ]
The Trump Administration s Maritime Action Plan, released on February 13, proposes to channel potentially enormous amounts of money into the flaccid U.S. shipbuilding industry. While the plan is far from becoming law, some of the Administration s proposals could weigh heavily on U.S. foreign trade by imposing new fees on imports and requiring that some containerized [ ]
The point of trade agreements, above all, is to establish clear rules for cross-border commerce, so businesses can make sensible decisions about importing, exporting, and investing. One year into Donald Trump s second presidency and that rationale is pretty much out the window when it comes to trade relations with the United States. The U.S. seems [ ]
Those who follow international trade pay close attention to forecasts of economic growth, consumer spending, and business investment. No surprises there: it seems obvious that if consumers are spending freely, imports will be in greater demand, while if a country s economy is headed downward, its appetite for foreign goods will wane. A new report from [ ]
The International Maritime Organization, one of the more obscure agencies of the United Nations, doesn’t normally get much attention in Washington. Its plan for international regulations to address climate change is an exception. The plan, long in the works, would require ships to reduce emissions from burning fuel and impose a charge on the emissions [ ]
Since it first carried international trade in the 1960s, the container shipping industry has been notoriously cyclical: years of strong trade growth and strong profits have been followed by periods of less robust trade, excess capacity, collapsing cargo rates, and the exit of carriers too weak to survive in a sea of red ink. That [ ]
U.S. tariffs supposedly generated a record $31 billion in revenue during the month of August. According to a breathless report from Fox News, “The US could collect as much tariff revenue in just four months to five months as it did over the entire previous year.” But while those numbers may prove accurate, they represent [ ]