FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye on Tuesday released her long-awaited final report from her fact finding investigation into the effects of COVID-19 on the ocean shipping supply chain, formally known as…
https://gcaptain.com/fmc-fact-finding-investigation-finds-vigorous-competition-container-shipping/
The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has had unprecedented support from Congress and the White House for holding the container shipping industry accountable to its customers, but the agency’s top official says more oversight is needed.
Speaking at the National Industrial Transportation League’s (NITL) Transportation Summit on Thursday, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei acknowledged he may have been too optimistic about the ocean carriers’ ability to self-regulate, particularly as it relates to late...
Attorneys representing shippers in litigation involving four Class I railroads praised a federal appeals court decision this week that clarified what evidence can be submitted in two cases involving alleged price fixing in the early 2000s.
Stephen Neuwirth, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel Urqhuart & Sullivan, said in a statement that the “opinion will greatly assist the shippers in making their antitrust case against the railroads.”
Dozens of global companies representing chemical, automotive...
Finnish-based Cargotec and Konecranes have cancelled plans for a proposed merger after UK competition regulators blocked the transaction over concerns that it would harm competition in the market for container…
Supply chains are back in the news, perhaps a welcome distraction from the coverage of events in Ukraine. Late last week, the Biden Administration followed up on its year earlier…
https://gcaptain.com/supply-chains-liner-carriers-in-the-cross-hairs/
The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced actions Monday to reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to jointly enforce competition laws to promote fair competition in the…
https://gcaptain.com/united-states-ramps-up-competition-oversight-in-ocean-shipping/
The U.S. Department of Justice is now targeting a wider swath of transportation companies that it deems may be using supply chain disruption to gouge customers
The initiative, which DOJ announced Thursday, broadens the scope of the Biden administration’s heightened scrutiny of anticompetitive behavior in various industry segments, including transportation.
“The lingering challenge of supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for criminals to fix prices and...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doj-expands-scrutiny-of-possible-supply-chain-profiteers
Antitrust insights in shipping – recapping 2021 and preparing for 2022
At a Glance…It’s a new year, but the pandemic continues to cause supply chain disruptions worldwide, and there is no end in sight with the omicron variant exacerbating the global traffic jam. Surges in demand combined with clogged transportation systems have caused the cost of moving cargo to skyrocket. U.S. ports are overwhelmed with imported containers. It has become common to ship empty containers back to Asia because it...
The Federal Trade Commission’s mission is to protect consumers and businesses against anticompetitive, deceptive and unfair business practices, but historically it hasn’t touched ocean shipping.
Overseeing competition in sea freight is the primary jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission. The Department of Justice gets involved if international container lines engage in anticompetitive behavior outside antitrust immunity that allows discussion about rate guidelines for individual service...
By Charlotte Ryan (Bloomberg) — The British International Freight Association is calling on the U.K. government to investigate the state of competition within the global container-shipping market, as transportation costs remain…